Food addiction and substance addiction in women: Common clinical characteristics

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Raven Hardy, Emory University; Negar Fani, Emory University; Tanja Jovanovic, Emory University; Vasiliki Michopoulos, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-01-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.026
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Appetite
• ISSN: 0195-6663
• Volume: 120
• Start Page: 367
• End Page: 373
• Grant/Funding Information: The current study was supported by MH096764, MH071537, MH070129, MH101380, HD085850, the Emory Medical Care Foundation, the Emory and Grady Memorial Hospital General Clinical Research Center, NIH National Centers for Research Resources (M01RR00039), the Research and Woodruff Health Sciences IT Division (UL1 TR000424), the Atlanta Clinical Translational Science Institute, the NIH National Centers for Research Resources (M01 RR00039), and the Emory University General Clinical Research Center at Grady Hospital. Support for this publication was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars program (RH, NF).
• Keywords: OBESE-PATIENTS; POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER; Food addiction; BINGE-EATING DISORDER; MEDIATING ROLE; Emotion regulation; Science & Technology; Behavioral Sciences; Nutrition & Dietetics; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; AFRICAN-AMERICAN; Substance use; CHILDHOOD TRAUMA QUESTIONNAIRE; YOUNG-ADULTS; Trauma; BODY-MASS INDEX; SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS; EMOTION DYSREGULATION; Women
• Research Categories: Psychology, Behavioral; Health Sciences, Nutrition

Abstract

Food addiction is characterized by poorly controlled intake of highly-palatable, calorically-dense, foods. While previous studies indicate that risk factors for food addiction are similar to substance use disorders (SUD), these studies have looked at food addiction and SUD in independent samples, limiting the ability to directly compare food addiction to SUD. The present study was conducted to assess rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, childhood and adult trauma exposure, as well as presence and severity of emotion dysregulation, in a sample of women (N = 229) who either meet criteria for no addiction, food addiction only or SUD only. The prevalence of food addiction was 18.3% and the prevalence of SUD was 30.6% in this sample. Women with food addiction and women with SUD endorsed more depression and PTSD symptoms when compared with individuals with no addiction. Individuals with food addiction and SUD had higher total emotion dysregulation scores, specifically with difficulties in goal directed behaviors, non-acceptance of emotional responses, impulse control, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity, when compared to individuals with no addiction (all p's < 0.05). There were no differences in PTSD and depression symptoms and emotion dysregulation scores between food addiction and SUD groups (all p > 0.05). However, women with SUD endorsed higher levels of total childhood (p < 0.01) and adulthood trauma (p < 0.01) as compared with women with no addiction or food addiction. These results suggest that women with food addiction and those with SUD share similar psychological characteristics and risk factors, with the exception of trauma histories. These findings have implications for the detection of risk for and treatment of these disorders.