Reinforcement sensitivity, coping, disordered eating and drinking behaviour in adolescents

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Abstract

This study examined the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and attitudes towards eating and drinking behaviour in a sample of 347 adolescents. Specifically, the mediating and moderating roles of coping strategies in these relationships were examined. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that use of non-productive coping strategies moderated the relationship between Behavioural Approach System-Drive and eating attitudes, and mediated the relationship between behavioural inhibition and eating attitudes. Use of problem solving as a coping strategy was negatively related to drinking behaviour. It was suggested that coping skills training, focusing on limiting non-productive coping and enhancing problem solving skills could be an effective early intervention for eating and substance use problems that may counter the effects of an underlying personality pre-disposition to such disorders.

Introduction

Dysfunctional eating attitudes and harmful drinking behaviour are common in adolescents (Kjelsås, Bjørnstrøm, & Götestam, 2004), and have been identified as precursors to later development of eating and alcohol-related disorders (Grant et al., 2001, Joiner et al., 1997). While many factors have been implicated in the aetiology of these disorders, the unusually high co morbidity between eating and alcohol use disorders (e.g. Krahn, 1991) has led some researchers to suggest an underlying personality predisposition may account for this co-occurrence. Others have adopted a social cognitive approach, focusing on the role of coping strategies in the aetiology and maintenance of eating and drinking behaviour (e.g. Cantanzaro & Laurent, 2004). However despite the popularity of both approaches, few have investigated the combined role personality and coping may play in the eating and drinking patterns of adolescents. This study aims to integrate the two approaches, by examining the role of coping strategies in the relationship between Gray’s (1982) personality theory and the eating and drinking behaviour of adolescents.

Section snippets

Sensitivity to reward and punishment

Jeffrey Gray proposed that two hypothetical motivational systems are responsible for regulating behaviour. The Behavioural Approach System (BAS) is hypothesised to regulate responses to rewarding stimuli, while the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) is thought to regulate responses to aversive stimuli and is reflected in inhibition of behaviour and avoidant responses to stimuli associated with punishment (Gray, 1982). Although initially conceptualised as two distinct systems, recent research

Coping, eating disorders and drinking behaviour

Surprisingly few studies have investigated the role of coping in the development of eating disorders (García-Grau, Fusté, Miró, Saldaña, & Bados, 2002). The studies that have, consistently report that emotion-focused and avoidant coping strategies are related to dieting, binging and disordered eating attitudes (e.g. Denisoff and Endler, 2000, Ghaderi and Scott, 2000, Hansel and Wittrock, 1997). Despite a high rate of eating disorders in non-clinical adolescent samples, few of these studies

Integrating reinforcement sensitivity and coping models

While reinforcement sensitivity and coping strategies have independently been related to eating and drinking behaviour, no studies have investigated how coping and reinforcement sensitivity might interact to predict eating or drinking behaviour. If, as suggested by Gray (1982) sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment are biological predispositions which regulate behaviour, then it can be assumed that reinforcement sensitivity is a distal predictor of behaviour. Coping strategies, on

Participants

A total of 347 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 (mean age = 14.18, sd = 1.10), participated in this study. Participants were recruited from two private co-educational schools on the Gold Coast, Australia. Of the sample, 163 were female and 184 were male. The majority of adolescents reported living with both parents (79.1%), and were born in Australia (91.3%).

Materials

BIS/BAS (Carver & White, 1994). The BIS/BAS scale is a 24-item measure designed to assess dispositional behavioural inhibition (BIS) and

Preliminary analyses

Of the total sample 199 students completed the AusAUDIT. A between groups t test (t(197) = 22.0, p < .001) revealed students who completed the questionnaire to be older (mean age = 14.36, sd = 1.16) than students who did not complete the questionnaire (mean age = 13.91, sd = 1.00), however no other demographic differences were observed between the two groups. Inspection of the data revealed that the majority of students who did not complete the AusAUDIT reported not drinking alcohol.

Discussion

This study aimed to investigate the role of coping strategies in the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and eating and drinking behaviours in adolescents. Although previous studies have noted associations between BIS/BAS and dysfunctional eating and drinking behaviours (e.g. Franken, 2002, Loxton and Dawe, 2001) this is the first study to the author’s knowledge to examine the role of coping in this relationship. Generally, although these results reveal behavioural approach and

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