(PTFS05-05-26) Food Noise: Psychosocial Correlates in a Treatment-Seeking Population

Objectives: Food noise (FN), characterized by persistent thoughts about food, is hypothesized to be a barrier to weight management. Yet FN-associated psychosocial factors are underexplored in individuals seeking weight management. Understanding these associations may help identify psychological profiles and targets for successful weight loss interventions. We examined the relationships between FN and psychosocial constructs in a treatment-seeking group.

Methods: Baseline data were analyzed from 91 adults enrolled in a behavioral weight management program. FN was assessed using the Food Noise Questionnaire. Psychosocial questionnaires measured weight lifestyle self-efficacy, self-regulation, food acceptance, treatment motivation, social support, and depressive symptoms. Pearson correlations were used to examine their bivariate associations with FN. Multiple linear regression was used to identify independent psychosocial predictors of FN, adjusting for all psychosocial variables and BMI.

Results: FN was significantly associated with lower weight lifestyle self-efficacy (r = −0.467, p < .001), lower self-regulation (r = −0.281, p = .007), and higher depressive symptoms (r = 0.340, p < .001) but not with food acceptance and action, treatment motivation, social support variables, or BMI. In the multivariable regression model, lower weight lifestyle self-efficacy (β = −0.394, p < .001) and higher depressive symptoms (β = 0.232, p = .038) remained significant independent predictors of FN, but not food acceptance and action, treatment self-regulation, social support for healthy eating, or BMI.

Conclusions: FN is associated with depression and poor weight related lifestyle self-efficacy in adults who are beginning a weight loss intervention. Notably, FN is not significantly associated with treatment motivation, food acceptance and action, or general self-regulation suggesting that FN may represent a distinct construct that can occur independent of motivational and self-regulatory processes. Future studies should investigate whether reducing FN may improve symptoms of depression, weight lifestyle self-efficacy, and weight management success.

Funding Sources: NIH R01DK139059 – Optimizing an extended care intervention to promote weight loss maintenance (PI: G. R. Dutton).