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Compulsive buying: descriptive characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity
G A Christenson1, R J Faber, M de Zwaan
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
|January 1, 1994
Summary
Compulsive buying is a definable clinical syndrome with significant psychosocial impairment. It shares features with obsessive compulsive disorder and impulse control disorders, affecting predominantly women.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Compulsive buying disorder (CBD) is underrepresented in psychiatric literature.
- Research is needed to understand the demographics, phenomenology, and comorbidity of CBD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the characteristics of individuals with compulsive buying disorder.
- To assess psychiatric comorbidities in compulsive buyers compared to a control group.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 24 individuals with compulsive buying and 24 matched controls.
- Utilized semistructured interviews and standardized scales for diagnosis and symptom assessment.
- Assessed for impulse control disorders, depression, anxiety, and compulsiveness.
Main Results:
- Compulsive buyers were typically 36-year-old females who developed the disorder in adolescence.
- Purchases often included clothing and accessories that remained unused.
- Compulsive buyers exhibited higher rates of anxiety, substance use, and eating disorders, and increased depression, anxiety, and compulsiveness.
Conclusions:
- Compulsive buying disorder is a distinct clinical syndrome.
- It leads to significant psychosocial impairment.
- The disorder exhibits characteristics of both obsessive compulsive disorder and impulse control disorders.