**5. Conclusions**

This study sought to show and reproduce specific characteristics of BED with comorbid obesity, especially in comparison with obesity without BED. Importantly, we only tested clinically diagnosed BED patients and obese individuals without a history of ED to make a clear comparison. The findings underline the distinct psychological and psychopathological features that separate OB-BED from obesity. Although OB-BED and OB groups share problematic eating behaviors and attitudes, depression, and adverse early life experiences, increasing emotional eating tendencies and eating-related and general self-regulation impairments appear to specifically relate to the emergence of BED. These results should be considered in therapy and when screening for BED in obese individuals.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, G.P.; formal analysis, G.P. and G.H.; data curation, L.M.S.; writing—original draft preparation, L.M.S.; writing—review and editing, G.P., Y.E., and G.H.; supervision, G.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (approval no.: 267\_17B, 4 December 2017).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

**Acknowledgments:** The present work was performed by L.M.S. in fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree "Dr. med.".

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
