Chocolate cravers’ attitude towards chocolate consumption and its relationship to disordered eating

Previous research has found that an attitude of guilt towards chocolate craving has been shown in studies outside of the United States to be linked with disordered eating patterns (Benton, Greenfield, Morgan, 1998; Cartwright Stritzke, 2008). While it has been demonstrated that cravings for foods can be culturally specific (Osman Sobal, 2006), the research specifically examining attitudes towards chocolate craving and disordered eating has so far been studied in countries other than the United States. This study tested the relationship between attitudes about chocolate cravings and disordered eating patterns. The study sample consisted of 120 undergraduate students at Humboldt State University. Participants completed the Orientation to Chocolate Questionnaire-Revised (OCQ-R; Cartwright Stritzke, 2008), the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26; Garner, Olmstead, Bohr, Garfinkel, 1982), and a demographic questionnaire. As hypothesized, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between the OCQ-R Guilt scale and EAT-26 scales, r (120) = .682, p .01. Disconfirming our hypothesis, we found that the OCQ-R Approach scale did not correlate significantly with scores on the EAT-26, r (120) = .163, p .10. Additionally, our hypothesis regarding the OCQ-R Avoidance scale was not confirmed as it did demonstrate a minimal, but significant, correlation with the EAT-26 r (120)=.276, p .01. As hypothesized, the OCQ-R Avoidance scale did not factor anything significant to the predictability of EAT-26 scores after accounting for the influence of the OCQ-R Guilt scale, R²Δ =.00, β=-.01, p = .05. However, the OCQ-R Approach scale did contribute a small but significant amount of variability to overall EAT-26 scores after accounting for the influence of the OCQ-R guilt scale, R²Δ =.034, β= .04, p =.01. Finally, it was expected that females would score higher than males on the OCQ-R Guilt scale but this hypothesis was not confirmed, t = (118) = 0.56, p = .57, d =.12. Limitations of the sample population are discussed for potential future research and clinical application of results. This is the first research conducted in the United States using the OCQ-R. This study offers data specific to American attitudes towards chocolate consumption and disordered eating symptoms, thus assisting clinicians in expanding treatment interventions and managing individual's disordered eating symptoms.