Methodological issues in behavioral addictions’ research: A call for an unbiased analysis of excessive behaviors

Abstract

In the psychological literature, there has been a proliferation of new behavioral addictions, often biased by an aprioristic and confirmatory approach that applied the addiction framework without adequately considering other potential explanations of excessive behaviors. This position paper further extends the critiques previously pointed out in the literature by highlighting the methodological issues underlying the current behavioral addiction research and the need for future studies to avoid a confirmatory and aprioristic approach (whatever the etiological hypothesis). Analyzing repetitive behaviors in their own specifies could help find a balance between the risk of over-pathologizing common behaviors and not exploring new potential clinical disorders related to everyday (excessive) behaviors associated with functional impairment and deserving public health attention. Finally, we underline the value of recalling that if an existing diagnosis might explain the problematic behavior under consideration, a new clinical disorder should not be introduced in the literature.