Binge eating disorder In adolescence: the role of alexithymia and impulsivity

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a disorder, recently included in DSM-5, often present in adolescence. Several studies highlight that adolescents with BED had high levels of impulsivity and alexithymia. Even though studies have underlined the importance of these variables, no studies have investigated their role on adolescents’ emotional-behavioral functioning. This study proposes to verify if adolescents affected by BED show higher levels of alexithymia and impulsivity than adolescents without diagnosis, and what is their role on adolescents’ emotional-behavioral functioning. Thanks to the collaboration with clinical centers for eating disorders, a group composed by 60 adolescents diagnosed with BED was paired to a 60 healthy controls. Participants completed validated self-report questionnaires investigating levels of alexithymia, impulsivity and emotional-behavioral functioning. Adolescents diagnosed with BED showed higher scores on alexithymia, impulsivity and maladaptive emotional-behavioral functioning than healthy controls. Moreover, alexithymia had a mediating effect on the relationship between impulsivity and emotional-behavioral functioning. These results show that alexithymia is a key variable influencing the emotional-behavioral functioning of adolescents affected by BED. Further studies are needed to also check other variables that might lead to the onset of BED. On the other hand, our findings can help clinicians suggesting the importance of promoting prevention and treatment polices focused on alexithymia.