Relationships among Negative Affect, Impulsiveness, Disordered Eating and Problem Gambling in Males and Females across the Lifespa

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 nondisordered 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.