Depression, materialism, and excessive Internet use in relation to compulsive buying.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between compulsive buying (CB), depression, materialism, and excessive Internet use. METHODS: An online survey of 387 consumers was conducted including questions about demographics and shopping venues, the Compulsive Buying Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale, the Materialistic Values Scale, and questions concerning excessive Internet use. RESULTS: Seventeen percent of the participants reported Compulsive Buying Scale scores less than -1.34 and were considered to be having CB. Participants with CB did not significantly differ from those without CB regarding age, sex, marital status, annual household income, and shopping preferences. Individuals with CB reported more depressive symptoms, higher materialistic values endorsement, and more severe excessive Internet use compared with those without CB. Results of a stepwise logistic regression analysis with CB as the dependent variable showed that materialism and depression were associated with CB, whereas excessive Internet use was not. CONCLUSIONS: Materialism and depression jointly influence CB. Further research is needed to examine the influence of materialism on CB in a clinical sample consisting of patients with diagnosed CB.

Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying in Germany and its association with sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms.

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of compulsive buying and its association with sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative sample of the German population using the validated German version of the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS; Faber and O'Guinn, 1992) in order to have a direct comparison with U.S. findings. The point prevalence of compulsive buying in the weighted representative sample (N=2,350) was estimated to be 6.9%. This was somewhat higher than the percentage in the American sample assessed in 2004 (5.8%). No significant difference was found between women and men (6.9% and 6.8%, respectively). Age was inversely related to the prevalence of compulsive buying. Individuals with compulsive buying reported more depressive symptoms assessed via the German version of the Brief Patient Health Questionnaire Mood Scale (PHQ-9). Further research on this topic is needed to establish a clearer delineation of when excessive buying is clinically significant and should be treated and how it could be prevented.

Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying behavior in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Compulsive buying (uncontrolled urges to buy, with resulting significant adverse consequences) has been estimated to affect from 1.8% to 16% of the adult U.S. population. To the authors' knowledge, no study has used a large general population sample to estimate its prevalence. METHOD: The authors conducted a random sample, national household telephone survey in the spring and summer of 2004 and interviewed 2,513 adults. The interviews addressed buying attitudes and behaviors, their consequences, and the respondents' financial and demographic data. The authors used a clinically validated screening instrument, the Compulsive Buying Scale, to classify respondents as either compulsive buyers or not. RESULTS: The rate of response was 56.3%, which compares favorably with rates in federal national health surveys. The cooperation rate was 97.6%. Respondents included a higher percentage of women and people ages 55 and older than the U.S. adult population. The estimated point prevalence of compulsive buying among respondents was 5.8% (by gender: 6.0% for women, 5.5% for men). The gender-adjusted prevalence rate was 5.8%. Compared with other respondents, compulsive buyers were younger, and a greater proportion reported incomes under 50,000 US dollars. They exhibited more maladaptive responses on most consumer behavior measures and were more than four times less likely to pay off credit card balances in full. CONCLUSIONS: A study using clinically valid interviews is needed to evaluate these results. The emotional and functional toll of compulsive buying and the frequency of comorbid psychiatric disorders suggests that studies of treatments and social interventions are warranted.

Direct and retrospective assessment of factors contributing to compulsive buying.

Compulsive buying is a disorder that has begun to receive attention from researchers in recent years. The results of a handful of studies suggest that compulsive buying occurs in response to negative emotions and results in a decrease in the intensity of the negative emotions. In this investigation, we used interview and self-monitoring methods to evaluate the antecedents and consequences of compulsive buying in a sample of women who met criteria for compulsive buying on the compulsive buying scale (J. Consumer Res. 19 (1992) 459). As a group, the participants reported negative emotions as the most common antecedents to compulsive buying, and euphoria or relief from the negative emotions as the most common consequence of compulsive buying. These findings were consistent across the interview and self-monitoring assessment methods. The implications for assessment and treatment are discussed.