FAMILY HISTORY AND PSYCHIATRIC COMORBIDITY IN PERSONS WITH COMPULSIVEBUYING - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Objective: The authors explored the family history and psychiatric com orbidity of a group of compulsive buyers who volunteered for medicatio n studies. Compulsive buying is characterized by inappropriate shoppin g and spending behavior that lends to impairment. Method: Thirty-three subjects who met the criteria of McElroy and colleagues for compulsiv e buying, and who scored more than two standard deviations above the m ean on the Compulsive Buying Scale, were recruited. Twenty-two compari son subjects were recruited in the course of another study, and the pr esence of obsessive-compulsive disorder was the only reason for exclus ion. Both groups were administered the Structured Clinical Interview f or DSM-III-R disorders. The Family History Research Diagnostic Criteri a were used to collect information about psychiatric disorders in firs t-degree relatives. Results: Compulsive buyers had a mean age of 40 ye ars; two (6%) were men. Comparison subjects had a mean age of 39 years ; six (27%) were men. The two groups differed in gender distribution b ut not in age, marital status, or educational achievement. Compulsive buyers were more likely than comparison subjects to have lifetime mood disorders (especially major depression) and to have more than one psy chiatric disorder. First-degree relatives of compulsive buyers were mo re likely than comparison relatives to suffer from depression, alcohol ism, and a drug use disorder and to suffer more psychiatric disorders in general. Conclusions: These results indicate that persons who repor t compulsive buying behavior, and their first-degree relatives, are mo re likely to have a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder than are comparison subjects.