Objective:
This study investigated the developmental onset of the stroop interference effect for food and body shape words in 12- and 14-year-old females to determine whether dietary restraint and eating psychopathology influenced stroop performance times.
Method:
A stroop task containing neutral, food, and body shape-related words was administered to 152 schoolgirls. participants completed the restraint scale of the dutch eating behavior questionnaire and the drive for thinness (dft) subscale of the eating disorders inventory.
Results:
Significant color-naming impairments were observed for food-related words in 12- and 14-year-olds, in 14-year-old restrained eaters, and in 12-year-old unrestrained eaters. there were no significant differences between restrained and unrestrained eaters in either age group. participants scoring high on the dft subscale showed significant impairments for food-related words, but did not differ significantly from those scoring low on the dft. there were no significant impairments in color-naming body shape-related words in any subgroups.
Discussion:
This study did not confirm a different developmental onset for the food and body shape stroop interference effect. consideration of dietary restraint did add clarity to previously observed food-related interference effects in both age groups. the results for high- and low-dft participants do not support the use of the eating-related stroop tests as an early objective indicator of eating psychopathology.