A new study suggests that shopaholics are likely shopping their anxiety, low self-esteem, and unpleasant feelings away.
Writing in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, a group of researchers at the psychology department of the University of Bergen found that shopping addiction is linked to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, and may even function as a coping or escape mechanism for unpleasant feelings.
According to research head Cecilie Schou Andreassen, doctor of psychology and clinical psychologist specialist, the large study reflects some tendencies of people to develop a shopping addiction.
"Addictive shopping clearly occurs more regularly amongst certain demographic groups. It is more predominant in women," said Andreassen, adding that the habit usually begins in late adolescence and near adulthood, and appears to decrease with age.
The research also related shopping addiction to certain personality traits, such as extroverts—usually those who are social and seeking sensation—as being more prone to developing retail dependence.
The study is co-authored by American and British researchers from Stanford University, UCLA and Nottingham Trent University.
Surveying over 23,000 individuals, the team also developed the Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale (BSAS), which presents the seven warning signs of a shopaholic, namely salience, mood modification, conflict, tolerance, withdrawal, relapse and problems.
The seven basic criteria the researchers used for BSAS include seven items such as thinking about shopping or buying things all the time, shopping or buying things to change one's mood, and shopping or buying excessively that it adversely affects school, work and other everyday obligations.
All items are scored on this scale: (0) Completely disagree, (1) Disagree, (2) Neither disagree nor agree, (3) Agree, and (4) Completely agree. Answering "agree" or "completely agree" on a minimum of four items suggests shopping addiction.
Excessive and compulsive shopping has been deemed a behavioral addiction for years, although it is yet to be included in the section "Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders" in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a non-chemical addiction.
