The role of sensation seeking and motivations for eating in female and male adolescents who binge eat Fiorenzo Laghi ⁎, Sara Pompili, Emma Baumgartner, Roberto Baiocco Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy abstract article info Article history: Received 31 July 2014 Received in revised form 28 November 2014 Accepted 28 January 2015 Available online 7 February 2015 Keywords: Binge eating Sensation seeking Motivations for eating Adolescence Objectives: Although different personality traits have been associated with the onset and maintenance of binge eating, the role of sensation seeking is still not well documented. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of sensation seeking and motivations for eating in male and female adolescents who binge eat. Methods: 336 adolescents (196 boys and 140 girls, mean age 17.48) completed a survey composed of Binge Eating Scale, Motivation for Eating Scale, and Brief Sensation Seeking Scale. Results: Our results showed that for female adolescents, binge eating was significantly correlated with age, body mass index (BMI), Environmental and Emotional Eating. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that BMI was a significant positive predictor of binge eating; Emotional and Physical Eating accounted for 34% of the variance. For male adolescents, binge eating was significantly correlated with age, BMI, Boredom susceptibility, Experience seeking, environmental, Social and Emotional Eating. The most significant variables that contribute to binge symptoms, were age and BMI (that accounted for 16% of the variance), Experience seeking and Boredom susceptibility (11%) and emotional eating (18%). Conclusions: Our results provided support for emotional motivations as significant triggers for binge eating be- havior in both male and female adolescents. Although two sensation seeking dimensions were significant predic- tors of binge eating in males, sensation seeking was not associated to binge eating in the female subsample. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Binge eating is defined as the consumption of larger amount of food than usual during a limited period of time (usually not more than 2 h) accompanied by a feeling of marked distress and loss of control over eat- ing in absence of compensatory behaviors to control weight (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). During the binge episode especially high calorie foods are consumed which are normally perceived as “forbid- den” (Knight & Boland, 1989). Due to the repetitive and uncontrollable nature of binge eating behavior, it is often conceptualized as “addictive” (Ferriter & Ray, 2011). It is prevalent among college-aged women and previous studies reported that 16–25% of college women engage in binging episodes and 9–15% binge eat once a week or more; as for the men, 5% binge eat at least weekly (Schlundt & Johnson, 1990; Wolff & Wittrock, 1998). Additionally, Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Larson, Eisenberg, and Loth (2011) showed that 9.9% of girls and 3% of boys en- gaged in binge eating during adolescence. For this reason, many re- searchers have tried to explore different factors as possible triggers for binge eating (e.g. Allen, Crosby, Oddy, & Byrne, 2013; Neumark- Sztainer et al., 2011). Studies on the dispositional characteristics have identified impulsivity trait as consistently associated with binge eating (e.g. Benjamin & Wulfert, 2005; Kane, Loxton, Staiger, & Dawe, 2004; Vitousek & Manke, 1994). Whiteside and Lynam (2001) conceptualized impulsivity as characterized by four different indicators: urgency or the tendency to act rashly in response to intense negative emotions; lack of premeditation, that reflects the tendency to behave without a careful de- liberation; lack of perseverance, which refers to the inclination to be un- able to pursue goals with firmness and constancy; and sensation seeking. Sensation seeking can be defined as “a need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physi- cal and social risks for the sake of such experience” (Zuckerman, 1979, p. 10). This construct is characterized by four dimensions: Thrill and ad- venture seeking, that is the desire to engage in outdoor sports and activ- ities which involve danger and risk; Experience seeking, that represents seeking experiences though senses and mind and nonconforming life choices; Disinhibition, that refers to the desire of social and sexual disinhibited activities such wild parties and variety in sexual partners, and Boredom susceptibility, that represents the intolerance of rou- tine, repetitive activities and boring people (Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978). Although the role of urgency as a risk factor for eating disorders has been demonstrated, only few studies have examined the relationship between sensation seeking and eating behaviors and, to our knowledge, only one has investigated the association between sensation seeking Eating Behaviors 17 (2015) 119–124 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Rome Sapienza, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy. Tel.: +39 0649917619. E-mail address: fiorenzo.laghi@uniroma1.it (F. Laghi). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.01.011 1471-0153/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Eating Behaviors