Binge eating in obesity: Toward the specification of predictors

Obese binge eaters evidence greater disturbance than do obese nonbingers on various eating and weight-related characteristics and on many psychopathological dimensions as well. The present study attempted to specify the nature of risk factors for binging further by regressing factors from the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire onto a measure of binge eating. Five variables were shown to reliably predict binge eating in a double cross-validation procedure. Of these 5 variables, four assessed eating and weight-related characteristics rather than psychopathology. The possible relevance of these predictor variables for understanding the causes of binge eating was considered.