0257 Preliminary Findings: Attentional Bias for Food Cues Unrelated to Time Awake or Circadian Phase During Forced Desynchrony in Adolescents

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Sleep quantity and quality influence attentional bias, and attentional bias for food cues has been associated with body weight. Whether the endogenous circadian cycle and/or time from awakening to bedtime contribute to attentional bias for food and differences in weight remain unclear. Using a 28-h forced desynchrony (FD) design, we hypothesized that adolescents with overweight (OW) and obesity (O) would have more attentional bias for food cues later in the wake episode and at a later circadian phase compared to adolescents with a healthy weight (HW). Methods 50 (28 male) adolescents (12-15yr) completed 7 FD cycles. Participants completed an attentional bias task that included three food word categories (savory, sweet, fruits/vegetables) and one non-food word category (school supplies). The task was completed at 6 fixed times each cycle: Task 1 was 1.3h after scheduled awaking, Task 2 was 2h after Task 1, and Tasks 3–6 followed at 3-h intervals. Weight categorization used body mass index (BMI) percentiles (CDC): HW (>5th and <85th; n=24), OW (85th and <95th; n=13), or O (≥95th; n=14). Endogenous circadian period was determined using salivary melatonin onsets (Mean: HW=23.88h; OW=24.01h; O=23.86h). Effect of circadian phase and time since scheduled awakening was assessed by mixed effects modeling using 6 circadian and 6 time-awake bins. Results We found no significant differences between weight groups in attentional bias for any of the food categories (p’s >.05). We also saw no significant time awake effects or circadian influence on attentional bias, nor did time awake or circadian phase moderate the associations between weight category and attentional bias (p’s >.05). Conclusion Weight groups did not impact food-related attentional bias across the wake episode or circadian phase. Future directions will explore whether attentional bias for food types predicts food choice and food consumption in this study. Support DK101046