Obese binge eaters evidence greater disturbance than do obese nonbingers on various eating and weight-related characteristics and on many psychopathological dimensions as well. The present study attempted to specify the nature of risk factors for binging further by regressing factors from the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire onto a measure of binge eating. Five variables were shown to reliably predict binge eating in a double cross-validation procedure. Of these 5 variables, four assessed eating and weight-related characteristics rather than psychopathology. The possible relevance of these predictor variables for understanding the causes of binge eating was considered.
Binge eating represents a serious problem for 23-46% of obese individuals seeking weight-loss treatment (Marcus & Wing, 1987). Obese binge-eaters drop out of behavioral treatment more often and are more prone to weight regain following treatment (Marcus & Wing, 1987).
Research indicates that obese binge eaters differ from obese nonbingers on cognitive and affective variables as well. Binge eaters have more rigid and extreme dieting attitudes (Gormally, Black, Daston, & Rardin, 1982) and experience substantial psychological distress . These findings suggest that treatment programs tailored to the special needs of obese binge-eaters need to be developed .
Obese binge-eaters have elevated scores on many Hopkins Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory (MMPI) factors. It is possible that some of this relationship is due to response bias. Although obese binge eaters did not differ from an obese control group on the MMPI's validity scales in one recent study (Prather & Williamson, 1988), significant relation-