The effect of exposure to nature on attention.

Obesity is a serious issue in Canada in terms of both health-related consequences and health-care expenditures. Further, research indicates that costs related to obesity and associated health-consequences continue to rise. Given the potential for negative health-consequences, there is a clear need to understand associated risk factors for weight-gain and obesity. Research examining behavioural risk factors implicates a role for binge eating. Binge eating is defined as rapidly and uncontrollably consuming a large amount of food in a short period of time and research indicates that up to one third of individuals in weight-loss populations engage in binge eating. Studies indicate that binge eating is a self-perpetuating, repetitive and cyclical behaviour tied to accelerated weight gain and increases in the risk for becoming overweight or obese. Additionally, examinations of personality factors associated with binge eating and obesity suggest a role for perfectionistic traits in predicting binge eating. However, little is known about the mechanisms that explain why perfectionistic traits are related to binge eating. The proposed study begins to fill this void by testing an integrative model that draws on and integrates research implicating a role for interpersonal difficulties, depressive affect and dietary restraint in attempts build a greater understanding of why the relationship between perfectionistic traits and binge eating occurs. It is hypothesized that perfectionistic traits indirectly affect binge eating through interpersonal discrepancies, low interpersonal esteem, depressive affect and dietary restraint. This hypothesis will be tested with a 3-wave 3-week longitudinal test of the proposed model in adults at-risk for obesity. Results from the proposed research will add incrementally to our understanding of the conditions under which binge eating occurs and can be used to inform upon treatment and prevention programs aimed at mitigating binge eating.