Question

Read this Article: Then determine the IV/DV question below:

Background

Restrained Eating, i.e. the tendency to restrict dietary intake to control body-weight, often emerges during adolescence and may result in changes in circadian eating patterns.

Objective

The objective of the present investigation was to determine the cross-sectional relevance of restrained eating for characteristics of circadian eating pattern in adolescents and whether changes in restrained eating are accompanied by concurrent changes in circadian eating pattern over the course of adolescence.

Methods

Two questionnaires assessing restrained eating (Score 0–30) with parallel 3-day weighed dietary records from two different time points were available from 209 (♂:101, ♀:108) 11–18 year old adolescents of the DONALD study. Mixed linear regression models were used to analyze whether restrained eating was associated with eating occasion frequency, snack frequency and morning and evening energy intake [in % of daily energy intake, %E]. Linear regression models were used to examine whether changes in restrained eating were associated with changes in the mentioned variables.

n the DONALD study, RE has been assessed since 2005 in participants between 11 and 18 years. These assessments are scheduled for visits at 11, 14 and 18 years of age. If a participant fails to attend these visits, he/she is interviewed at the next visit. Through May 2016, a total of 886 questionnaires on RE were collected from 494 participants. Questionnaires with more than one missing answer were excluded from the analyses (n = 11). For 658 questionnaires (from 392 participants), dietary records collected at the same visit were available. Overall, 218 participants provided at least two RE questionnaires with parallel 3-day weighed dietary records. For participants, who had provided more than two questionnaires and dietary records, the first and the last available RE questionnaire and dietary record were used to assess changes in RE and eating pattern. Two-hundred and nine participants additionally provided the relevant data to calculate the age at the onset of the pubertal growth spurt (age at take-off), a marker for initialization of puberty [32] and a potential confounder. Therefore, the final sample consisted of 209 participants (♀: 108, ♂: 101) providing 418 questionnaires and 3-day weighed dietary records.

Results

Among girls, greater restrained eating was cross-sectionally associated with higher morning energy intake (p = 0.03). Further, there was a tendency towards lower evening energy intake with higher levels of restrained eating for the whole sample (p = 0.06). No cross-sectional associations were found with eating occasion or snack frequency. Each one-point increase in restrained eating during adolescence was related to a concurrent decrease in eating occasion frequency by 0.04 (95% CI -0.08; -0.01, p = 0.02) and in evening energy intake by 0.36%E (95% CI -0.70; -0.03, p = 0.04). A tendency towards decreasing snack frequency with increasing restrained eating was observed (β = -0.03, 95% CI -0.07; 0.00, p = 0.07). No association was found between changes in restrained eating and concurrent changes in morning energy intake.

What kind of research does this article represent?
I believe this is an observational study/research ??

What were the variables under study and their levels of measurement? Identify the IV and DV and levels of measurement (interval, ratio, nominal, ordinal)

Answer 1

(first part) What kind of research does this article represent?

this is observational study:

an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints.

(second part) dependent variable(DV): restrained eating(RE) it is ordinal variable

Ordinal scales provide good information about the order of choices,

independent variable (IV): there are 3 IV

1.eating occasion frequency, interval

2.snack frequency : interval

3. morning and evening energy intake: ratio

Ratio scales are the ultimate nirvana when it comes to measurement scales because they tell us about the order, they tell us the exact value between units, AND they also have an absolute zero–which allows for a wide range of both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied.

Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know both the order and the exact differences between the values.