The effects of distraction on performance in the chronically obese: Restraint, obesity, and neuroticism

The present study was conducted in order to assess the effect of distraction on the proof-reading performance of obese restrained and unrestrained eaters. Chronically obese subjects were categorized as restrained or unrestrained and assigned to conditions of distraction and no distraction. Results support the notion that restrained vs unrestrained eaters in the obese class differentially respond to external cues in their non-eating behavior. The pattern of the interaction suggested that distraction facilitates the performance of unrestrained eaters and inhibits the performance of restrained eaters. These results support previous research findings that some characteristics of the obese may be due to the over-representation of restrained eaters in that class. Also, neuroticism was found to be correlated with restraint. Additional analyses indicated that neuroticism moderated the restraint x distraction interaction. The relationship between neuroticism and restraint as well as the therapeutic implications of the study are discussed.