The interviews addressed buying attitudes

OBJECTIVE haughty buying (uncontrolled urges to buy, with resulting significant adverse consequences) has been estimated to affect from 1. 8% to 16% of the adult U. S. population. To the authors knowledge, no study has utilise a large general population sample to estimate its preponderance. METHOD The authors conducted a random sample, theme household telephone survey in the spring and summer of 2004 and interviewed 2,513 adults.The interviews addressed buying attitudes and behaviors, their consequences, and the respondents financial and demographic data. The authors used a clinically validated screening instrument, the Compulsive Buying Scale, to classify respondents as any compulsive buyers or not. RESULTS The rate of response was 56. 3%, which compares favorably with rates in federal national health surveys. The cooperation rate was 97. 6%. Respondents included a higher percentage of women and people ages 55 and fourth-year than the U.S. adult population. The estimated point prevalence of compulsive buying among respondents was 5. 8% (by gender 6. 0% for women, 5. 5% for men). The gender-adjusted prevalence rate was 5. 8%. Compared with other respondents, compulsive buyers were younger, and a greater proportion reported incomes under $50,000. They exhibited to a greater extent maladaptive responses on most consumer behavior measures and were more than four times less likely to return off credit card balances in full.CONCLUSIONSA study using clinically valid interviews is infallible to evaluate these results. The emotional and functional toll of compulsive buying and the frequency of comorbid psychiatric disorders suggest that studies of treatments and fond interventions are warranted Source American Journal of Psychiatry http//ajp. psychiatryonline. org/cgi/content/abstract/163/10/1806