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When It’s More Than A Spree

John A. Rizzo/Getty Images

When It’s More Than A Spree

Times are tough, but shop they must. Almost 9% of U.S. adults may be compulsive buyers, say researchers at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Marketing professor Nancy Ridgway and her team have developed a new questionnaire to screen for the disorder, previously thought to affect just 5% of the population. The new scale eliminates questions about maxed-out credit and other financial consequences of binge buying. “Many people can afford their habit,” says Ridgway. “But spending so much on themselves leaves them feeling emotionally bankrupt.”

The revised test has six questions—three that tap into obsessive-compulsive behavior (“My closet has unopened shopping bags in it”) and three relating to poor impulse control (“I buy things I don’t need”).

The researchers developed and validated the scale using 1,212 participants—in some cases, comparing responses with actual purchase data. While the current credit crunch is unlikely to “cure” the ailment, Ridgway notes, it could lead more people to seek treatment. –Ellen Gibson