Exploring latent profiles of disordered eating using an indicator of dietary restriction in an undergraduate sample of men and women.

Objective: Latent class or latent profile analysis (LPA) studies in patients with eating disorders consistently identify a low-weight, restrictive eating subgroup that does not endorse weight/shape concerns. To date, similar studies in samples unselected for disordered eating symptoms have not identified a high restriction-low weight/shape concerns group, which may be due to a lack of inclusion of measures of dietary restriction.

Method: We conducted an LPA using data from 1623 college students (54% female) recruited across three different studies. The Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory Body Dissatisfaction, Cognitive Restraint, Restricting, and Binge Eating subscales were used as indicators, and body mass index, gender, and dataset were covaried. Purging, excessive exercise, emotion dysregulation, and harmful alcohol use were compared across resulting clusters.

Results: Fit indices supported a 10-class solution, including five disordered eating groups (largest to smallest): "Elevated General Disordered Eating", "Body Dissatisfied Binge Eating," "Most Severe General Disordered Eating," "Non-Body Dissatisfied Binge Eating," and "Non-Body Dissatisfied Restriction." The "Non-Body Dissatisfied Restriction" group scored as low on other measures of traditional eating pathology and harmful alcohol use as non-disordered eating groups but scored as high on a measure of emotion dysregulation as other disordered eating groups.

Discussion: This study is the first to identify a latent restrictive eating group that does not endorse traditional disordered eating cognitions in an unselected sample of undergraduate students. Results underscore the importance of using measures of disordered eating behaviors without implied motivation to capture overlooked problematic eating patterns in the population that are distinct from our "traditional" understanding of disordered eating.

Public Significance: We identified a group of individuals with high levels of restrictive eating but low body dissatisfaction and intent to diet in an unselected adult sample of men and women. Results underscore the need to investigate restrictive eating outside of the traditional lens of body shape concerns. Findings also suggest that individuals with nontraditional eating difficulties may struggle with emotion dysregulation, putting them at risk of poor psychological and relational outcomes.