Browsing by Author "Farstad, Sarah"

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    Examining the Short-Term Longitudinal Relationships between Emotion Regulation and Addictive Behaviors among Community Women
    (2017) Farstad, Sarah; von Ranson, Kristin; Hodgins, David; Dobson, Keith
    The purpose of this study was to compare deficits in emotion regulation that are associated with binge eating, food addiction, problem gambling, and substance abuse in order to elucidate similarities and differences between eating pathology and both behavioral addictions (i.e., gambling) and substance addictions (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse). Participants were 202 women from the community who engaged in at-risk binge eating (39%), at-risk gambling (18%), or both behaviors (43%). Participants completed online assessments every two months for six months. The baseline and six-month surveys assessed self-reported emotion dysregulation, binge eating, food addiction, gambling, and substance abuse. The abbreviated two- and four-month surveys assessed only binge eating and gambling. Study 1 compared the facets of emotion regulation that were longitudinally associated with binge eating and the only formally-recognized behavioral addiction, gambling. Emotion dysregulation was associated with increased binge eating and problem gambling but positive urgency had the opposite association to eating pathology versus gambling: higher scores on positive urgency were associated with more severe problem gambling yet slower increases in eating-related impairment over time. Study 2 compared the facets of emotion regulation that were cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with food addiction and substance abuse. Negative urgency emerged as a common cross-sectional correlate of food addiction and substance abuse, whereas positive urgency and non-acceptance of one’s negative emotions had different associations to food addiction versus substance abuse. Positive urgency predicted increased odds of endorsing future substance abuse problems and decreased odds of endorsing future food addiction, whereas being unaccepting of one’s negative emotions was associated with more severe food addiction symptoms and less severe alcohol-related problems. Overall, these findings suggest that binge eating and food addiction are not associated with the same key deficits in emotion regulation as existing behavioral and substance addictions.
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    Relationships among Negative Affect, Impulsiveness, Disordered Eating and Problem Gambling in Males and Females across the Lifespan
    (2013-09-23) Farstad, Sarah; von Ranson, Kristin
    The purpose of this study was to examine personality traits associated with disordered eating, problem gambling, and comorbid eating and gambling problems to determine whether they shared similar underlying mechanisms. Participants were 1002 adult men and women from four age cohorts recruited through random digit dialing. Participants completed self-report measures of negative affectivity, the tendency to give into strong urges, the desire for excitement, difficulty persisting on tasks, disordered eating, and gambling. Negative affectivity and tendency to give into strong urges were associated with disordered eating and gambling severity, whereas desire for excitement was only associated with gambling. Individuals with comorbid eating and gambling problems had more extreme scores on some personality traits relative to non-disordered individuals but they did not differ from those with disordered eating or problem gambling. Negative affectivity and tendency to give into strong urges may represent shared mechanisms associated with disordered eating and problem gambling.