Associations of trait anger and the anger expression and regulation dimensions with food addiction in the LIFE-adult study

Abstract Background Food addiction (FA) has been linked to pathological eating, obesity, and a variety of detrimental mental health outcomes, yet the role of trait anger remains largely unexplored. This study examined whether trait anger and anger expression and regulation dimensions are associated with FA independently of the Big Five personality traits. Methods We used data collected between 2011 and 2014 from 1,138 adults aged 20–79 years participating in the LIFE-Adult Study, a population-based German cohort study. Sequential Poisson regression analyses were conducted to examine associations of trait anger and the anger expression and regulation dimensions, i.e., anger expression-in, anger expression-out, anger control, with FA symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, social support, alcohol use, and the Big Five personality traits. Results Higher trait anger was associated with higher FA symptom counts and remained significant after adjustment for the anger expression and regulation dimensions and sociodemographic characteristics. In the fully adjusted model, trait anger, lower social support, higher neuroticism, and lower conscientiousness were associated with higher symptom counts, whereas the anger expression and regulation dimensions were no longer significant. Conclusion Our findings suggest that trait anger may be a relevant emotional correlate of FA beyond broader personality-related vulnerability, whereas specific anger expression and regulation dimensions appear to play a less central role. Given the cross-sectional design, conclusions regarding temporal ordering and causality remain limited.