Background: Compulsive buying (CB) has been observed mainly in modern women (up to95%) in our Western society. Objective: To describe analytically the relationship between CBand biopsychosocial factors that encourage its development. Method: A review of specialisedtextbooks and the available literature in Medline/PubMed and SciELO on the relationshipbetween CB and biopsychosocial factors was conducted. Results: CB is an impulse controldisorder (often within a multi-impulsive pattern), with severe interference in psychosocial andfinancial functioning, which emerges in a postmodern context, with a significant associationwith changes in the female gender identity, with comorbidities mainly anxiety, mood, eatingdisorders, use/abuse of substances and personality (obsessive-compulsive, avoidant, borderline).It is usually triggered by negative affects (anguish, sadness, anger, frustration, loneliness), lowself-esteem, external stimuli reinforced by the marketing system, value of social approval forconsumption and/or hedonistic satisfaction. The combined treatment of cognitive-behaviouralpsychotherapy, psychoeducation and SSRI drugs seems to be more effective. Conclusions: Theevidence shows that CB could be considered as a biopsychosocial phenomenon, more prevalentin women, in a postmodern socio-cultural historical background, that exceeds the autonomy,equality and competence in masculine domains achieved by the current woman, becoming apsychopathological disorder within the impulsive spectrum that has been included in the ICD-10.
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