Does food use disorder exist? Item response theory analyses of a food use disorder adapted from the DSM-5 substance use disorder criteria in a treatment seeking clinical sample

Sophie-Athéna Chapron; Charlotte Kervran; Marco Da Rosa; Lucie Fournet; Dvora Shmulewitz; Deborah Hasin; Cécile Denis; Julie Collombat; Maude Monsaingeon; Mélina Fatseas; Blandine Gatta-Cherifi; Fuschia Serre; Marc Auriacombe

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110937

Does food use disorder exist? Item response theory analyses of a food use disorder adapted from the DSM-5 substance use disorder criteria in a treatment seeking clinical sample

Drug Alcohol Depend. 2023 Oct 1:251:110937. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110937. Epub 2023 Aug 23.

Affiliations

¹ University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Clinic (Pôle Interétablissement d'Addictologie), CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
² University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
³ New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA.
⁴ SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Department of psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁵ SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Clinic (Pôle Interétablissement d'Addictologie), CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
⁶ Obesity Clinic, Haut-Leveque Hospital, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
⁷ University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Clinic (Pôle Interétablissement d'Addictologie), CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; INCIA, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France.
⁸ University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Obesity Clinic, Haut-Leveque Hospital, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Neurocentre Magendie, Physiopathologie de la Plasticité Neuronale, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Unité 1215, Bordeaux, 33076 France.
⁹ University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; SANPSY Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS UMR 6033 and University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Clinic (Pôle Interétablissement d'Addictologie), CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Department of psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: marc.auriacombe@u-bordeaux.fr.

PMID: 37666092
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110937

Abstract

Background: Increased consumption of food that are high in energy and sugar have been pointed as a major factor in the obesity epidemic. Impaired control of food intake and the concept of food addiction has been developed as a potential contributor. Our objective was to evaluate the dimensionality and psychometric validity of diagnostic criteria for food addiction adapted from the 11 DSM-5 substance use disorder (SUD) criteria (i.e.: Food Use Disorder (FUD) criteria), and to evaluate the influence of age, gender, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Cross-sectional observational study including 508 participants (56.1% male; mean age 42.2) from outpatient treatment clinics for obesity or addiction disorders at time of admission. FUD diagnostic criteria were analyzed using confirmatory factor and 2-parameter item response theory analyses. Differential Item and Test Functioning analyses were performed across age, gender, and BMI.

Results: We demonstrated the one-factor dimensionality of the criteria set. The criterion "craving" presented the strongest factor loading and discrimination parameter and the second-lowest difficulty. We found some significant uniform differential item functioning for body mass index. We found some differential test functioning for gender and BMI.

Conclusions: This study reports, for the first time, the validity of a potential Food Use Disorder (derived from the 11 DSM-5 SUD criteria adapted to food) in a sample of treatment seeking adults. This has great implications both at the clinical level and in terms of public health policy in the context of the global obesity epidemic.

Keywords: Craving; DSM-5; Diagnostic criteria; Food addiction; Item response theory.