title: Pathological buying and partnership status.
abstract: This pilot study investigated the partnership status and the level of pathological buying (PB) in 157 female patients with PB and 1153 women from a German population-based sample. Slightly more than half of both samples were currently living with a partner. The results suggest a protective effect of being in a couple relationship in the representative sample. In contrast, having a partner was not related to the severity of PB among patients. Future studies should address the question of whether the characteristics and quality of partnership have an impact on the severity and course of PB, and vice versa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: mueller.astrid@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Zwaan
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Fargo, ND, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Partnership; Pathological buying