Award Date

August 2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Shane Kraus

Second Committee Member

Brenna Renn

Third Committee Member

Kris Gunawan

Fourth Committee Member

Brett Abarbanel

Number of Pages

127

Abstract

Impulsivity is defined by behaviors that are often performed without foresight or consideration for consequences. For some individuals, impulsive behaviors are excessive or dysfunctional, and can become extremely problematic, ultimately leading to impairments in quality of life and lowered psychological functioning. Impulsivity is a multifaceted factor, comprising several different domains that have been explored in past studies (e.g., trait impulsivity, decision making, response inhibition). However, previous research shows that trait impulsivity in adults is consistently associated with several psychiatric problems including substance abuse, eating disorders, and compulsive sexual behaviors. To date, few studies have investigated impulsivity, compulsive sexual behavior. disordered eating, and overall psychopathology within non-clinical samples. Considering the debilitating effects of eating disorders, compulsive sexual behaviors, and chronic impulsive behavior, more research is necessary to determine the relationships of these factors with overall psychopathology. My dissertation explores the interrelationships among impulsivity, compulsive sexual behavior, psychopathology, and disordered eating in two different non-clinical adult samples. The aims of this study were to 1) examine relationships amongst psychopathology, impulsivity, and disordered eating 2) conduct an exploratory aim to investigate relationships amongst disordered eating, impulsivity, and compulsive sexual behavior, and 3) compare sociodemographics, impulsivity, and disordered eating behaviors across samples. This study included two different US samples: a college sample (n=2,161), and a general community sample (n=1,898). I used an identical analytic plan for both samples, in which I first calculated descriptive statistics and correlations between sample variables. Next, to determine potential sociodemographic covariates, I used MANOVA analyses to determine any associations between sociodemographic variables and impulsivity. I then created mediation models to test for the influence of impulsivity and disordered eating on psychopathology, while adjusting for relevant sociodemographic variables. Within these models, impulsivity was the mediator, disordered eating was the independent variable, and a psychopathology composite was the dependent variable. In addition, I created an exploratory mediation model that tested the influence of impulsivity and disordered eating on compulsive sexual behaviors. The exploratory model used impulsivity as a mediator, disordered eating as the independent variable and compulsive sexual behaviors as the dependent variable. Results indicated that for both samples impulsivity mediated the relationship between disordered eating and psychopathology (or compulsive sexual behavior). Results from the mediation analyses were consistent across the two different samples and indicate trait impulsivity as a major influence in the relationship between disordered eating and psychopathology (or compulsive sexual behaviors). In addition, there were sample differences in sociodemographics, disordered eating, and impulsivity. Future research should consider the development of impulsivity-focused treatments as either an adjunct or primary intervention for psychiatric disorders where impulsivity has been shown to be impactful (e.g., substance use disorders, eating disorders, gambling disorder). Additional research is also needed to determine how impulsivity may present in certain eating disorders where impulsive behaviors often present, such as in binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa.

Keywords

Behavioral Addictions; Comorbidity; Compulsive Sexual Behavior; Disordered Eating; Impulsivity; Psychopathology

Disciplines

Psychology

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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