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While there is good evidence that binge eating disorder BED is linked to higher-than-expected use of a broad range of addictive behaviors, mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. We also anticipated that the relationship between BED and addictive behaviors would be mediated by a high-risk personality profile. The predicted mediation effect was strongly supported. Contrary to expectation, BED participants did not engage in more addictive behaviors or have higher personality-risk scores than their weight-matched counterparts.
The relationships among personality risk, elevated body mass index BMI , and addictive behaviors have important clinical implications, especially for treatments that target psycho-behavioral intervention for compulsive overeating and substance-use disorders. A recent body of research also demonstrates psychobiological similarities between the two conditions Banca et al.
For instance, both conditions implicate neuropathophysiological systems that regulate reward sensitivity, attentional biases, impaired cognitive function, and executive-function deficits Guido, ; Kessler et al. In particular, BED has been linked to high reward responsiveness as indicated by evidence i that ventral striatal activity during the anticipation of a reward was inversely related to binge-eating abstinence after treatment Balodis et al.
Similar neurobiological findings have been seen in those who abuse a broad range of substances Filbey et al. It has been argued that in some cases, BED may itself be an addiction disorder whereby severe cases with respect to compulsiveness and frequency may reflect an abuse of, and dependence on, hyper-palatable substances.
