article = {PDR-2019-3-103}
title = {HPA-Axis Functioning and Food Addiction Among Individuals Suffering from Severe Obesity and Awaiting Bariatric Surgery}
journal = {Psychological Disorders and Research}
year = {2019}
issn = {2674-2470}
doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.PDR.2019.03.03}
url = {https://www.sciencerepository.org/hpa-axis-functioning-and-food-addiction-among-individuals-suffering-from-severe-obesity-and-awaiting-bariatric-surgery_PDR-2019-3-103 
author = {Laurent Biertho, Simone  Lemieux,André Tchernof,Anne-Sophie  Ouellette,Catherine Bégin,Christopher Rodrigue,}
keywords = { Food addiction, HPA-axis, cortisol awakening response, bariatric candidates, eating behaviors, food cravings}
abstract ={Similarities have been observed between substance dependence and overconsumption of food, leading to
the development of the food addiction (FA) concept. While psychological markers of FA have often been
documented, data on physiological markers remains scarce. This study aimed to investigate HPA-axis
functioning through cortisol awakening response (CAR) in relation to FA among bariatric candidates. We
hypothesized that participants presenting high FA symptomatology would present a blunted CAR when
compared to participants presenting low FA symptomatology and that significant associations between CAR
and eating behaviors would be observed within both groups. The final sample comprised 40 participants,
who were invited to complete questionnaires and provide saliva samples upon awakening (T0, T15, and
T30). Results from the two-way ANOVA with repeated measures showed a non-significant “time x group”
interaction, indicating that CAR did not differ between groups. Moreover, results from correlational
analyses showed different patterns of associations between CAR and eating behaviors within each group;
further analyses showed that the relationship between CAR and food cravings triggered by cues in the
environment was significantly moderated by FA symptomatology, as higher CAR was related to lower cuetriggered food cravings only in individuals presenting low FA symptomatology. While these findings do
not support the presence of HPA-axis functioning differences in relation to FA, they suggest that the
association of CAR with eating behaviors may depend on whether or not addictive tendencies are present.
Further investigation of the association between CAR and eating behaviors in the context of FA will thus
be essential.}