Food Addiction in Bulimia Nervosa: Clinical Correlates and Association with Response to a Brief Psychoeducational Intervention.
Food addiction (FA) has been examined in different populations. Although high FA levels are associated with greater eating disorder severity, few studies have addressed how FA relates to treatment outcome.



The study aims (1) to determine whether a brief intervention for bulimia nervosa (BN) reduces FA diagnosis or severity compared with baseline and (2) to determine if FA is predictive of treatment outcome.



Sixty-six female BN patients participated in the study. The Yale Food Addiction Scale was administered at two time points: prior to and following a 6-week intervention. The number of weekly binging/purging episodes, dropout and abstinence from bulimic behaviour were used as primary outcome measures.



This brief intervention reduced FA severity and FA diagnosis in the 55 patients who completed treatment. FA severity was a short-term predictor of abstinence from binging/purging episodes after treatment (p = .018).



Food addiction appears to be prevalent in BN although FA severity can improve following a short-term intervention. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Ines
I
Hilker
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Isabel
I
Sánchez
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.|Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
Trevor
T
Steward
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.|Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain.
Susana
S
Jiménez-Murcia
Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Psychobiology and Methodology, University Autònoma of Barcelona, Spain.
Roser
R
Granero
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Ashley N
AN
Gearhardt
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Rita Cristina
RC
Rodríguez-Muñoz
Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Physiology, CIMUS, University of Santiago de Compostela-Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Carlos
C
Dieguez
Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.|Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Research Area, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
Ana B
AB
Crujeiras
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Iris
I
Tolosa-Sola
Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.|Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, Research Area, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Spain.
Felipe F
FF
Casanueva
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain.|Ciber Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
José M
JM
Menchón
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain. ffernandez@bellvitgehospital.cat.|Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain. ffernandez@bellvitgehospital.cat.|Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain. ffernandez@bellvitgehospital.cat.
Fernando
F
Fernández-Aranda
D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000628:therapy; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
bulimia nervosa; clinical; food addiction; outcome; treatment