Subtyping dietary restraint and negative affect in a longitudinal community sample of girls

OBJECTIVE:: This study tests the validity of the "dietary-depressive" subtype (typified by greater negative affect) and a "dietary" subtype (typified by dietary restraint only) using a diverse longitudinal community sample. METHOD:: Girls at ages 10, 12, and 14 completed the Child Eating Attitudes Test, the Child Symptom Inventory-4, and Body Image Measure. Body Mass Index was assessed at each age. RESULTS:: Unlike previous studies, cluster analysis revealed an at-risk "dietary-depressive" (R+) subtype (18.7%,100/534) and a not at-risk (R-) subtype, distinguished by few depressive symptoms and little dietary restraint (81.3%,434/534), but no "dietary" subtype. When compared with the R- subtype, the R+ subtype had significantly greater eating disordered behavior and attitudes. The R+ subtype at age 10 was a risk factor for binge-eating but not obesity at ages 12 and 14. DISCUSSION:: Dietary restraint and depressive symptoms combined predict binge-eating longitudinally in a diverse community sample of girls. Int J Eat Disord 2009. © 2009 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.