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  • Food Addiction in Eating Di...
    Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Agüera, Zaida; Paslakis, Georgios; Munguia, Lucero; Granero, Roser; Sánchez-González, Jéssica; Sánchez, Isabel; Riesco, Nadine; Gearhardt, Ashley N; Dieguez, Carlos; Fazia, Gilda; Segura-García, Cristina; Baenas, Isabel; Menchón, José M; Fernández-Aranda, Fernando

    Nutrients, 11/2019, Volume: 11, Issue: 11
    Journal Article

    Food addiction (FA) has been associated with greater psychopathology in individuals with eating disorders (ED) and obesity (OBE). The current study aims to provide a better phenotypic characterization of the FA construct by conducting a clustering analysis of FA in both conditions (ED and OBE). The total sample was comprised of 234 participants that scored positive on the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0. (YFAS-2) (119 bulimia nervosa (BN), 50 binge eating disorder (BED), 49 other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) and 16 OBE). All participants completed a comprehensive battery of questionnaires. Three clusters of FA participants were identified. Cluster 1 (dysfunctional) was characterized by the highest prevalence of OSFED and BN, the highest ED severity and psychopathology, and more dysfunctional personality traits. Cluster 2 (moderate) showed a high prevalence of BN and BED and moderate levels of ED psychopathology. Finally, cluster 3 (adaptive) was characterized by a high prevalence of OBE and BED, low levels of ED psychopathology, and more functional personality traits. In conclusion, this study identified three distinct clusters of ED-OBE patients with FA and provides some insight into a better phenotypic characterization of the FA construct when considering psychopathology, personality and ED pathology. Future studies should address whether these three food addiction categories are indicative of therapy outcome.