The document summarizes two studies examining the comorbidity of compulsive buying and eating disorders. Study 1 found that women diagnosed with binge eating disorder were more likely to engage in compulsive buying than non-binge eaters. Study 2 showed that compulsive buyers were more likely to exhibit symptoms of binge eating disorders and have lifetime diagnoses of eating disorders than non-compulsive buyers. Additional research is needed to better understand the interrelationships between specific compulsive disorders and identify underlying causes of comorbidity.

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Buyer behavior
3rd of February 2011
Presented by:
Karik Gamze,
Marcella Diestel,
Simranjot Kaur.
Two Forms of Compulsive
Consumption:
Comorbidity of Compulsive
Buying and Binge Eating
by
RONALD J. FABER
GARY A. CHRISTENSON
MARTINA DE ZWAAN
JAMES MITCHELL*
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Research Question
Methodology
Past Research
Results
Limitations & Future
Research
Conclusion6

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Is there an overlap or interrelation between compulsive buying &
eating disorders?
• people with BED were more likely than
nonbinge eaters to engage in
compulsive buying
Study 1
• compulsive buyers were more likely
than noncompulsive buyers to manifest
symptoms of binge eating disorders
Study 2
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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Research on consumption disorders
(Cox, Cox, and Moschis 1990; Hirschman 1991; O'Guinn and Faber 1989)
Broad category of compulsive consumption behavior: drug abuse,
eating disorders, compulsive sexuality, pathological gambling &
kleptomania (O'Guinn and Faber; 1989)
„General model of addictive consumption“ - some forms of
compulsive consumption have similar characteristics, common
causes & follow similar patterns of development (Hirschman; 1992)
Need to develop broader models to account for commonalities
among such disorders (Jacobs 1989; Marlatt et al. 1988)
„Comorbidity“ can occur if both disorders represent alternative
responses to a similar set of underlying problems or if one disorder
leads to the development of the other (Krahn 1991)
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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Evidence of comorbidity for: compulsive buying & alcoholism (Glatt &
Cook 1987; Valence, d'Astous & Fortier 1988), compulsive buying &
kleptomania (McElroy et al. 1991), bulimia & shoplifting (Norton, Crisp, & Bhat
1985) and bulimia, alcoholism & drug abuse (Mitchell et al. 1985;Williamson
1990)
Multiple disorders occur simultaneously, while for others serially -
with one disorder emerging after a previous one or after the initial
disorder has been controlled (Hirschman 1992; Mitchell 1990;Orford 1985)
Differentiation between distressed & sociopathic compulsive
consumers (Hirschman 1992)
Need for evidence of the interrelationship of specific disorders to determine which
disorders are most closely related: Compulsive buying & compulsive consumption
of food (Faber, Christensen, Zwaan & Mitchell, 1995)
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

6. +bulimia nervosa & binge eating disorder (BED).
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BINGE EATING
DISORDERS
persistent overconcern with body shape and weight
(American Psychiatric Association 1994), higher
levels of depression (Mitchell 1990; Williamson 1990
& anxiety (Williamson 1990) & lower selfesteem
(Mitchell 1990; Wagner, Halmi & Maguire 1987
shortterm escape from negative selffeelings
COMPULSIVE BUYERS
low levels of selfesteem (O'Guinn & Faber 1989;
Scherhorn, Reisch & Raab 1990) & high levels of
depression (Scherhorn et al. 1990; Valence et al. 1988) &
of anxiety reactions & obsessions (O'Guinn & Faber 1989;
Scherhorn et al. 1990)
shortterm gratification from their buying behavior
(Christenson et al. 1994; O'Guinn & Faber 1989)
bulimia nervosa & binge
eating disorder
1) inability to control the urge to overconsume
2) problems with impulse control
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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Study I
 compares obese binge eaters
with nonbinge eaters of similar
weight.
 All subjects responded to a
newspaper ad for an
exprimental treatment program
for obesity.
 Subjects had to be at least 50
pounds above the ideal body
weight for their age and height
as determined by standard
tables.
 Subjects have no sıgnificant
health problems,no current form
of substance abuse,and no
history of bipolar disorder or
schizophrenia.
 Subjects in the treatment study
were required to pay $ 1,000 for
dieatry supplements and therapy
sessions for a 26 week
treatment program.
 A total of 197 women met
eligibility requirements and
participated in this study.
 Subjects ranged in age from 20
to 55 with a mean age of 39,9
years. In general, They were well
educated, with 51,3 percent
having a college degree.
 The Compulsive Buying Scale
is a seven item measure that has
been shown to have good
validity for disinguıshing
compulsive buyers from
noncompulsive buyers.
 The items assess feeling and
emotions related to shopping and
buying on a five point frequency
scale ranging from « very often «
to never .»
 Scores could range from seven
to 35, with lower scores
indicating greater compulsive
buying tendencies.

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03.02.2011 Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating 8
 On the basis of the psychiatric
interviews, 84 of the obese subjects
(43 percent) were diagnosed as having
BED
 While 113 subjects (57 percent) did
not meet the criteria for this diagnosis
and were classified as non binge
eaters.
 The second potentially problematic
item showed that 34.9 percent of the
subjects indicated they very often or
often "made only the minimum
payments on my credit card.
 People diagnosed as having BED were
more likely than nonbinge eaters to
suffer from compulsive buying

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03.02.2011 Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating 9
 Subjects for the second study
were a matched group of
compulsive buyers and
"normal buying" control
subjects.
 Compulsive buyers were
recruited via a newspaper
advertisement inviting
people 18 years or older,
who
have a compulsive buying
problem.
 A separate ad for control
subjects simply requested
"people 18 years of age or
older interested in
participating in a research
study" to respond
 Self-selection to groups was
appropriate, all respondents
were screened with the CBS.
 Subjects responding to the
control group ad were
excluded if they were
classified as compulsive
buyers by the CBS (four
people were excluded for this
reason).
 Subjects meeting the criteria
were offered $35 for
participating in a four hour
study.
 Respondents filled out a
number of questionnaires
including a modified
(shortened) version of the
Eating Disorder Questionnaire
(EDQ).
 Subjects were also
interviewed with the
Minnesota Impulse Disorder
Interview (MIDI).
 This interview was designed
to identify the presence of
five impulse control
disorders: kleptomania,
pyromania,pathological
gambling disorder,
trichotillomania (compulsive
hair pulling), and intermittent
explosive disorder.

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A comparison of the demographics of the two
samples indicates that the matching procedure
was successful.
This particular study was a comparison of the
weights of the compulsive and noncompulsive
buyers. There was no significant difference in
the mean weight of these two groups.
5 of the compulsive buyers weighed over 200
pounds compared with just one of the
noncompulsive buyers.
Compulsive buyers also engage in binges
more frequently. One-third (33.3 %) of the
compulsive buyers reported binge eating
several time a month or more often, while only
one noncompulsive buyer (4.2 %) reported
binge eating this often.

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RESPONDENTS WHO BINGE AND REPORT OFTEN OR ALWAYS
EXPERIENCING CHARACTERISTICS OF BED
Characteristics of BED
Compulsive
Buyers (%)
Noncompulsive
Buyers (%)
Consume large amounts 37.5 12.5
Eat very rapidly 37.5 4.2
Feel out of control 29.2 4.2
Feel miserable or annoyed aftenward 45.8 8.3
Get uncontrollable urge to eat until feeling physically ill 20.8 4.2
Get uncontrollable urge to eat until feeling physically ill 33.3 12.5

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Bulimic respondents frequently report feeling fat, fearing
becoming fat, experiencing negative affect as a result of small
weight gains, and having a distorted body image (Cash
andBrown 1987; Williamson 1990).
Compulsive buyers have a more negative body image and
more negative feelings associated with weight changes.)
Compulsive buyers were significantly more likely than control
subjects to have used diet pills to control their weight.
These analyses suggest that compulsive buyers are more likely
to have symptoms of BED and bulimia nervosa.
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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Eating disorders Compulsive buyers
N=24
Noncompulsive buyers
N=24
Bulimia nervosa 3(12.5%) (0%)
Anorexia nervosa 0 (0%) (4.2%)
Binge eating disorder 4(16.7%) (0%)
Any eating disorder 5 (20.8%) (4.2%)
RESPONDENTS WITH LIFETIME DIAGNOSES OF EATING
DISORDERS

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Exclusive
participation of
women only.
Examining only 1
type of eating
disorder, Bingeing
Observing only
over- weight
people.
Study I
The Groups are
small & data
collection was
incomplete.
Unable to identify
the actual cause
that leads
compulsive buyers
to towards BED.
Study II
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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5. Limitations
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Family Psychiatric History
No investigator have
systematically addressed the
issue of family psychiatric
history in compulsive buying.
Compulsive buying may runs
in families, since 9.5% of
compulsive buyers' relatives
had the disorder.
Compulsive Buying
Impulse
Control
disorder
s
Anxiety
Mood
It remains unclear that whether
compulsive buying is related to
mood, anxiety, or impulse
control disorders
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

16. + To find relative compulsive consumption towards different
disorders .
 Reasons of impulse control disorder among Men & compulsive
buying disorder among Women.
 Reasons for development of Compulsive buying?
- Neurochemical Imbalances consequences.
 Future researches for identifying factors that contribute to comorbidity
of specific disorders.
 Future researches on understanding specific behavior and their
related disorders for improving treatments.
5. Future Researches
03.02.2011 16Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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• These two Studies examine the comorbidity of compulsive
buying and eating disorders involving binge eating in which
• Study 1 found that women diagnosed as having binge eating
disorder had significantly greater compulsive buying tendencies
than nonbinge eaters of similar weight.
• Study 2 showed that compulsive buyers were also engaged in
eating disorders and more prone to other impulsive control
behaviours.
• Additional researches are needed to confirm and extend these
findings in other settings and with larger groups.
Comorbidity of Compulsive Buying and Binge Eating

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