Investigating gender differences in the co-occurrence of PTSD and food addiction.

OBJECTIVE: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co-occurs with substance use disorders (SUDs). Past studies suggest PTSD is also associated with food addiction (compulsive intake of highly processed foods containing refined carbohydrates and/or added fat). However, research investigating gender differences has been limited (e.g., restricted samples) and mixed. We aim to investigate the risk of co-occurring PTSD and food addiction in a community sample for all participants and stratified by gender. Additionally, we conducted risk ratios for problematic substance use and obesity to allow for within-sample comparisons. METHOD: We utilized a sample of 318 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (mean age = 41.2, 47.8% men, 78.0% white) to address existing gaps in the literature on PTSD and food addiction. We calculated risk ratios (adjusted for sociodemographic covariates) using modified Poisson regression with 95% confidence intervals. Results were also gender stratified. RESULTS: Risk of food addiction (Risk Ratio (RR) = 6.42, 95% CI [4.10, 10.07], problematic alcohol use (RR) = 3.86, 95% CI [2.25,6.62], problematic smoking (RR) = 3.93, 95% CI [2.22, 6.97], and problematic nicotine vaping (RR) = 5.41, 95% CI [2.41, 11.14] were higher for those meeting criteria for PTSD. Risk of problematic cannabis use, and risk of obesity were not significantly higher for those meeting criteria for PTSD. Gender-stratified results suggest risk of food addiction may be higher for men (RR) = 8.54, 95% CI [4.49, 16.25] compared to women (RR) = 4.32, 95% CI [2.16, 8.62]. DISCUSSION: Food addiction, but not obesity, appears to co-occur with PTSD more strongly than other types of problematic substance use (alcohol, cannabis, cigarettes, nicotine vaping). This risk appears to be particularly high for men compared to women. Assessing for food addiction in those with PTSD, particularly in men, may assist in identifying high-risk groups.

Co-occurrence of food addiction, obesity, problematic substance use, and parental history of problematic alcohol use.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the rates of co-occurrence among food addiction (FA), problematic substance use (alcohol, cannabis, cigarettes, nicotine vaping), parental history of problematic alcohol use, and obesity as an important step to understanding whether an addictive-like eating phenotype exists. METHOD: A community sample of 357 U.S. adults (49.7% male, 77.6% White, Mage 40.7) completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS2.0), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test, the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, the E-Cigarette Dependence Scale, the Family Tree Questionnaire, and demographic/self-report body mass index questions through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Risk ratios (RRs; unadjusted and adjusted for sociodemographic covariates) were calculated using modified Poisson's regression. RESULTS: Risk of FA was higher in participants with problematic alcohol use (RR = 2.13, 99% CI [1.32, 3.45]), smoking (RR = 1.86, 99% CI [0.82, 3.36]), cannabis use (unadjusted; RR = 2.22, 99% CI [1.17, 4.18]), vaping (RR = 2.71, 99% CI [1.75, 4.21]), and parental history of problematic alcohol use (RR = 2.35, 99% CI [1.46, 3.79]). Risk of FA in participants with obesity was only higher in adjusted models (RR = 1.87, 99% CI [1.06, 3.27]). Obesity was not significantly associated with problematic substance use and parental history of problematic alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: FA, but not obesity, co-occurred with problematic substance use and a parental history of problematic alcohol use. Results support the conceptualization of FA as an addictive disorder. The inclusion of FA as an addictive disorder in diagnostic frameworks is an important area of future consideration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood trauma and food addiction: The role of emotion regulation difficulties and gender differences.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood trauma has been associated with substance use disorders (SUDs), but less research has investigated its association with food addiction (i.e., compulsive intake of highly processed foods containing refined carbohydrates and/or added fat). Existing research on childhood trauma and food addiction has focused primarily on women from restricted samples. Further, emotion dysregulation difficulties are implicated in both childhood trauma and food addiction, but research has not explored whether it may play a mediating role. METHOD: The current study utilizes a sample of 310 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (mean age = 41.3 years old, 47.4% men, 78.7% white) to investigate the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the association between childhood trauma and food addiction. We also conducted exploratory analyses to investigate for gender differences in these associations. Gender-stratified correlational matrixes were conducted to investigate associations between childhood trauma, food addiction, and emotional dysregulation. Moderated mediation models and multilevel regressions were also conducted to identify the role of gender in the association between childhood trauma, food addiction, and emotion dysregulation. RESULTS: Emotion dysregulation was found to partially mediate the associations between food addiction and childhood trauma and gender was found to moderate associations between childhood trauma and emotion dysregulation, as well as childhood trauma and food addiction. Both moderating pathways were significantly stronger for men compared to women. DISCUSSION: Results suggests that emotion dysregulation may be one important mediator in the association between childhood trauma and food addiction, particularly for men. The identification of other potential mechanisms contributing to the association between childhood trauma and food addiction and the use of longitudinal measurement strategies will be important in future research.