Emotional dysregulation, compulsivity, and obsessive-like behaviors across addictions: Neurobiological, psychological, and transdiagnostic perspectives

Emotional dysregulation and compulsivity are widespread but mechanistically underexplored dimensions that cut across substance use disorders, behavioral addictions, and a broader spectrum of maladaptive and addiction-like behaviors. Despite their growing clinical relevance, how these dimensions interact and reinforce one another in self-perpetuating cycles remains insufficiently characterized at both the neurobiological and psychological levels. Alongside emotional dysregulation and compulsivity, obsessive-like behaviors add a further dimension, reflecting the repetitive, intrusive, and rigid action patterns frequently observed across addictive phenotypes, reinforcing their transdiagnostic nature.Over the past decade, research has progressively moved beyond substance-specific models toward transdiagnostic frameworks that recognize shared affective and neurocognitive vulnerabilities across the addictive spectrum. Key advances include the characterization of negative reinforcement mechanisms that sustain compulsive engagement, alterations in mesocorticolimbic reward circuits underlying craving and reward seeking, the identification of altered prefrontal–limbic circuits underlying impaired emotion regulation, and growing evidence for interoceptive dysregulation and alexithymia as shared risk factors. Dimensional frameworks such as the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) have further reinforced the centrality of affect dysregulation in addiction maintenance.However, significant gaps remain. First, the bidirectional nature of the dysregulation–addiction cycle is rarely modeled longitudinally or across multiple behavioral phenotypes within the same study. Second, compulsivity as a distinct construct, separate from impulsivity, has not been sufficiently integrated into emotion regulation frameworks. Third, most existing studies focus on a single disorder, limiting the generalizability of findings. Addressing these gaps is both scientifically and clinically pressing: emotion-focused interventions remain underdeveloped across the addiction spectrum, and transdiagnostic assessment tools are still lacking. A better understanding of these mechanisms holds direct implications for the early identification of individuals at risk of developing addictive behaviors, the refinement of diagnostic criteria, and the development of more targeted therapeutic strategies.This Research Topic seeks to integrate reward-circuit dysfunction with the affective and prefrontal–limbic mechanisms underlying emotional control, in order to clarify how emotional dysregulation and compulsivity interact to sustain addictive and addiction-like behaviors. Specifically, we seek to: (1) consolidate evidence on the bidirectional relationship between affect dysregulation and behavioral compulsivity, including its neural underpinnings; (2) advance transdiagnostic models applicable across substance use disorders and behavioral addictions, integrating neurobiological and behavioral evidence; and (3) identify neurobiological, psychological, ecological, and behavioral markers with translational value for the development of emotion-focused, evidence-based interventions.We welcome submissions of Original Research, Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Perspective articles on the following:• Neurobiological substrates of emotional dysregulation and reward-circuit dysfunction in substance use disorders and behavioral addictions (gambling disorder, binge eating disorder, gaming disorder, compulsive sexual behavior disorder, and related conditions).• The role of compulsivity, impulsivity, and reward sensitivity as mediators between affect dysregulation and addictive behavior, including their neural correlates.• Interoceptive dysregulation, alexithymia, and their relationship with craving and compulsive engagement.• Transdiagnostic and dimensional models of emotion regulation difficulties across the addictive spectrum (including RDoC-aligned and circuit-based approaches).• Psychological and neuroscientific mechanisms of emotion-focused interventions targeting compulsive and addiction-like behaviors.• Stress reactivity, trauma exposure, and allostatic load as perpetuating factors in dysregulation–addiction cycles.• Ecological momentary assessment and technology-based methods, ideally combined with neurobiological or physiological measures, for capturing real-time emotional dynamics in addictive behaviors.• Longitudinal trajectories linking early emotion dysregulation to addictive phenotypes in adult populations and their neural correlates.Contributions bridging affective and behavioral neuroscience, psychiatry, and clinical psychology, are especially encouraged. Topic editors: PASQUALE CAPONNETTO, Franziska Miegel Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80924/emotional-dysregulation-compulsivity-and-obsessive-like-behaviors-across-addictions-neurobiological-psychological-and-transdiagnostic-perspectives