ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Addictive Behaviors
Food Addiction in Behavioral Addictions: A Network Approach
Anahí Gaspar-Pérez 1
Roser Granero 2
Fernando Fernandez-Aranda 3
Magda Rosinska 3
Noelia Sabariegos-Campos 3
Cristina Artero 3
Silvia Ruiz-Torras 1
Ashley N Gearhardt 4
Zsolt Demetrovics 5
Andrea Czakó 5
Joan Guàrdia-Olmos 1
Susana Jiménez-Murcia 3
1. Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
2. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
3. Bellvitge University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
5. ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
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Abstract
Background/Aims: The comorbidity of mental disorders is a well-documented phenomenon. However, the co-occurrence of and the underlying mechanisms of food addiction (FA) and behavioral addictions (BA) have been scarcely studied. Therefore, the aims of the present study are to: (a) perform a network analysis to explore the interrelationships between the clinical profile of patients seeking treatment for gaming disorder, compulsive buying-shopping disorder (CBSD), compulsive sexual behavior disorder, and the comorbid presence of multiple BAs and FA; (b) identify the core symptoms (central nodes) and correlates contributing to the clinical profile of patients with this comorbidity; and (c) determine empirical clusters of nodes depending on the presence/absence of FA. Methods: A sample of 209 participants (64.6% male and 35.4% female) were assessed by a semi-structured clinical interview for the diagnosis of the BAs, in addition to self-reported psychometric assessments for FA, general psychopathology, personality traits, emotional regulation, and impulsivity. Separate networks were obtained according to the presence or absence of FA. Results: The nodes with the highest centrality indexes among patients with FA+ were self-directedness, followed by global psychopathological distress, age, and harm avoidance. Self-directedness was also identified as the most relevant and the bridging node among patients with FA+. The number of communities (clusters of nodes) and their composition varied depending on the presence of comorbid FA. Conclusion: The profile observed in patients with both behavioral addictions (BA), and food addiction (FA) appears more complex than in those without FA, and this increased complexity may influence the progression of the disorders as well as treatment outcomes.
Summary
Keywords
Addictive Behaviors, behavioral addictions, Clinical profile, food addiction, Network analysis
Received
11 September 2025
Accepted
29 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Gaspar-Pérez, Granero, Fernandez-Aranda, Rosinska, Sabariegos-Campos, Artero, Ruiz-Torras, Gearhardt, Demetrovics, Czakó, Guàrdia-Olmos and Jiménez-Murcia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Susana Jiménez-Murcia
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