The Greater the Number of Altered Eating Behaviors in Obesity, the More Severe the Psychopathology

Background: Altered eating behaviors (AEBs) are not only associated with eating disorders but also play a role in obesity. This study assessed AEBs in individuals with obesity and their association with general and eating psychopathology, using the “Eating Behaviors Assessment for Obesity” (EBA-O). The hypothesis posited that a higher frequency of pathological eating behaviors would correlate with more severe psychopathology. Methods: Participants seeking weight loss treatment answered the EBA-O and other measures of eating and general psychopathology. The analysis employed MANOVA to estimate psychopathological variance based on AEBs and a cluster analysis to identify patient clusters by AEB type and number. Results: Out of the 244 participants, approximately two-thirds reported clinically relevant AEBs, with almost half exhibiting more than two AEBs. Predominant AEBs included sweet eating, binge eating, and hyperphagia. A significant impact of the numbers of AEBs on both eating and general psychopathology severity (p < 0.001; η2 = 0.167) was evident. Three clusters emerged, with Cluster 3 showing the highest AEB frequency and greater psychopathological impairment. Conclusions: The present findings confirm the correlation between the frequency of AEBs and the severity of general and eating psychopathology in individuals with obesity. AEBs deserve clinical attention, and their screening might aid their clinical characterization and foster more tailored treatments.