The influence of impulsiveness on binge eating and problem gambling: A prospective study of gender differences in Canadian adults.

Abstract

This study investigated the degree to which facets of impulsiveness predicted future binge eating and problem gambling, 2 theorized forms of behavioral addiction. Participants were 596 women and 406 men from 4 age cohorts randomly recruited from a Canadian province. Participants completed self-report measures of 3 facets of impulsiveness (negative urgency, sensation seeking, lack of persistence), binge-eating frequency, and problem-gambling symptoms. Impulsiveness was assessed at baseline, and assessments of binge eating and problem gambling were followed up after 3 years. Weighted data were analyzed using zero-inflated negative binomial and Poisson regression models. We found evidence of transdiagnostic and disorder-specific predictors of binge eating and problem gambling. Negative urgency emerged as a common predictor of binge eating and problem gambling among women and men. There were disorder-specific personality traits identified among men only: High lack-of-persistence scores predicted binge eating and high sensation-seeking scores predicted problem gambling. Among women, younger age predicted binge eating and older age predicted problem gambling. Thus, there are gender differences in facets of impulsiveness that longitudinally predict binge eating and problem gambling, suggesting that treatments for these behaviors should consider gender-specific personality and demographic traits in addition to the common personality trait of negative urgency.

Component Model of Addiction Treatment: A Pragmatic Transdiagnostic Treatment Model of Behavioral and Substance Addictions

“…Urgency is one of the facets of impulsivity that has received increasing empirical attention given its hypothesized association in the etiology and maintenance of addictions. Negative urgency, in particular, has been robustly associated with substance use disorders such as alcohol ( 82 ) as well as behavioral addictions such as gambling ( 83 ), video games ( 84 ), compulsive buying ( 85 ), binge eating ( 86 ), and sex ( 87 ).…”

“…The association between negative urgency has also been documented in longitudinal studies with behavioral addictions. In a large sample of Canadian adults ( N = 1,002), Farstad et al ( 86 ) found that negative urgency was the only facet of impulsivity that predicted problematic gambling and binge eating, suggesting negative urgency may be an important transdiagnostic mechanism in the expression of both gambling disorder and binge eating disorder, and a component of impulsivity that needs to be addressed in treatment. Indeed, negative urgency has been related to poorer treatment outcomes including relapse in substance use disorder ( 88 ).…”

Turning the UPPS down: Urgency predicts treatment outcome in a partial hospitalization program

“…Case-control studies also reveal elevations in urgency in a diverse range of diagnostic groups, including individuals diagnosed with bipolar I disorder [12], eating disorders [13], major depressive disorder [14], and schizophrenia [15]. Finally, urgency prospectively predicts a range of symptoms and risky behaviors, such as depression, self-injury, and substance use outcomes [16–20]. Together, these findings support the premise that tendencies to react impulsively to emotion states are transdiagnostic [21].…”

Demographic, psychiatric, and personality correlates of adults seeking treatment for disordered gambling with a comorbid binge/purge type eating disorder

“…Providing support for this supposition, impulsivity is a key characteristic of symptoms of bulimia nervosa, binge‐eating disorder (Waxman, ), and gambling disorder (Blaszczynski & Nower, ; Hodgins & Holub, ; Tavares & Gentil, ). Indeed, impulsivity, particularly negative urgency, has been suggested to independently contribute to the expression of both binge‐eating and gambling disorders in cross‐sectional (Fischer & Smith, ) as well as longitudinal samples (Farstad et al, ). Moreover, people with bulimia nervosa/binge‐eating disorder and comorbid gambling disorder report greater levels of impulsivity (Jiménez‐Murcia et al, ), suggesting that impulsivity may represent a shared risk for both disorders.…”