Cognitive and Mental Health Profiles of Binge-Eating Populations with and without Comorbid Addiction

Binge eating disorder (BED) is one of the most prevalent eating disorders and involves an increased risk of mental health problems, obesity and metabolic disease. Recent studies suggest that BED is similar to addictive disorders in its phenomenology and neurobiological mechanisms. Comorbid addiction (e.g., substance use disorders and behavioral addiction) is also very frequent in BED patients. However, it is still unclear whether BED population with comorbid addictions differ in their cognitive and mental health characteristics (e.g., impulsivity, behavioral inhibition, self-control, emotion regulation, mood and anxiety) than those without comorbid addiction. In the present study, we compared various psychometric scales across 30 binge-eating individuals with co-occurring addictive behaviors (i.e., alcohol, nicotine, gambling, and video games), 32 binge-eating individuals without addiction, and 178 healthy control subjects with neither binge-eating nor addiction. Both binge-eating groups showed a significant increase in inhibition motivation (BAS/BIS-inhibition), perceived stress, and state/trait anxiety compared to healthy controls, but there was no difference between the two binge-eating groups. Higher impulsivity and lower self-control were observed in both binge-eating populations to a significantly larger extent in the group with comorbid addiction. Interestingly, significantly increased depression and impaired emotion regulation (less use of cognitive reappraisal) were observed only in the binge-eating group with comorbid addiction when compared to the healthy controls. Our findings demonstrated the commonality and difference in binge-eating populations with and without comorbid addiction. It will help to elucidate cognitive and mental health aspects of comorbid addiction in BED and develop more tailored diagnoses and treatments.