Level of object representation and psychic structure deficit in obese persons

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Addiction theories suggest individuals lack internal coping mechanisms for emotional pain.
• They rely on external substances as regulators, a concept known as self-medication.
• This study explores applying these addiction hypotheses to obesity and food addiction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the structural deficit and external regulation hypotheses of addiction apply to individuals with obesity.
• To examine the relationship between object representation levels and obesity.

Main Methods:

• Compared object representation levels in 22 moderately obese and 24 normal-weight adults.
• Utilized the Blatt Family Interaction Questionnaire to assess object representation.

Main Results:

• Obese subjects exhibited lower mean levels of object representation for both parents compared to normal-weight subjects.
• This finding aligns with the proposed hypotheses regarding addiction and external regulation.

Conclusions:

• The structural deficit and external regulation hypotheses appear applicable to understanding food addiction in obese individuals.
• Lower object representation may be a contributing factor to using food as an external emotional regulator.