Relationships between emotional disorders, personality dimensions, and binge eating disorder in French obese adolescents

Abstract

Purpose: Binge eating disorder (BED) is associated with higher psychopathology, including emotional and personality disorders, in the adult population, whether or not they are obese; although few data are available on adolescents, particularly among obese adolescents.

Objective: To explore the association of both emotional disorders and personality dimensions with BED in obese adolescents.

Methods: The sample consisted of 115 French adolescents enrolled at a clinical unit for the multidisciplinary care of their overweight or obesity. BED was defined using the Binge Eating Scale (BES). Emotional disorders and personality dimensions were assessed using the following tools: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI); impulsivity was determined by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). Associations between emotional disorders (BDI/BAI) and personality dimensions (TAS/BIS/JTCI), considered first separately and then jointly with BED were determined with multivariate analysis.

Results: More severe depression (β=0.27, CI [0.06; 0.48], P=0.011), a higher level of excess weight (β=1.91, CI [0.22; 3.59], P=0.027), older age (β=1.28, CI [0.43; 2.14], P=0.003), and greater cooperativeness (β=0.36, CI [0.07; 0.66], P=0.017) were independently significantly associated with the presence of BED.

Conclusions: This cross-sectional study underlines the co-occurrence of emotional and personality disorders with BED. This points out the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and the relevance of a joint diagnosis of binge eating, emotional disorders, and personality dimensions in obese adolescents, for better prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity.

Keywords: Adolescent; Binge eating disorder; Emotional disorders; Obesity; Personality dimensions.