title: Psychopathology and personality of young women who experience food cravings.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to investigate the psychopathology and personality characteristics of women who experience food cravings. A total of 101 young women selected at random from the community completed the Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies with a trained interviewer. The interview included a section about food-craving experiences and associated factors. Subjects also completed a self-report questionnaire booklet containing the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). Compared to noncravers, women who reported food cravings were significantly more likely to report a history of alcohol abuse/dependence (p = .003), significant weight changes (p = .003), and to have undertaken dieting (p = .02), bingeing (p = .05), vomiting (p = .02), exercise (p = .04), diet pill (p = .03), and laxative use (p = .01) to control weight. There was a trend for the cravers to have higher novelty-seeking scores on the TCI (p = .06). Our findings suggest that women who experience food cravings are more likely to have met criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence and tend to have temperament characterized by higher levels of novelty seeking. In addition the high rates of eating-disorder symptomatology implies overconcern with body weight and shape in the women who experienced food cravings.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gendall
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fear
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bulik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004328:Drive; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications; D013694:Temperament