Situational, emotional, and individual dispositions to weight gain in people with hoarding problems

Abstract

Objectives: Individuals with hoarding disorder are more likely to be overweight or obese than the general population for unknown reasons.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-nine individuals (Hoarding Group: n = 63; Control Group: n = 66) completed self-report measures and were offered snacks in a tidy and a cluttered environment in a counterbalanced order. Groups were based on the self-reporting of high or low hoarding symptoms.

Results: The hoarding group reported being less able to use their kitchen and prepare food at home and experiencing more impulsivity, distress intolerance and problematic eating beliefs than did the control group. The hoarding group consumed more cookies in the tidy room, whereas the control group consumed more cookies in the cluttered room. Greater impulsivity, distress intolerance and problematic body and eating beliefs were related to greater cookie consumption for the hoarding group.

Conclusions: Early interventions that help individuals to tolerate distress and to engage in goal-directed behaviour regardless of their emotional state may have benefits for both hoarding and eating behaviour. We encourage future researchers to examine this hypothesis.

Keywords: clutter; distress tolerance; eating behaviour; food intake; impulsiveness; obesity.