title: Compulsive buying: relationship with body mass index.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Compulsive buying has historically been associated with various self-regulatory disturbances, including eating pathology (e.g., binge eating). Therefore, a relationship between scores on a measure of compulsive buying, the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS), and body mass index (BMI) in adulthood was hypothesized.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a self-report survey methodology in a cross-sectional consecutive sample of convenience of 373 obstetrics/gynecology patients, correlations between CBS scores and BMI, both generally and with regard to race were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A modest general correlation between CBS scores and BMI (r = 0.17, P < 0.01) was found. However, when these data were examined by race, CBS scores and BMI were significantly related among Caucasian women (r = 0.25, P < 0.01), but not in African American women (r = 0.04, P = n.s.).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings indicate that compulsive buying is associated with increasing BMI in adulthood, particularly among Caucasian women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio, USA. sansone@khnetwork.org
authors.forename: Randy A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sansone
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.forename: Brandee E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Marion
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003192:Compulsive Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D057566:Self Report; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult