Primary and secondary control over eating behaviors.

The relationships between subjective control, body image, and eating behaviors were examined within the framework of the Optimization in Primary and Secondary Control model (OPS model; Heckhausen, 1999). This model characterizes control as an adaptive and strategic process in which the target of control includes internal as well as external states, and in which the purpose is either to facilitate goal pursuit by engaging with the goal or managing the consequences of goal failure by disengaging from the goal. A convenience sample of 180 Australian women (age: M=26.