Anxiety, stress, and binge eating tendencies in adolescence: a prospective approach

Abstract

Background Recent years have witnessed an increasing prevalence of binge eating tendencies in adolescence—warranting a clearer understanding of their underlying predisposing and precipitating factors. The current study investigated whether the interaction between high levels of anxiety and stress predicted increased levels of binge eating tendencies in a prospective cohort of adolescents (N = 324). Methods Measurements were taken over three waves (M ages: 13.33, 14.48, 15.65) as part of the CogBIAS Longitudinal Study. Longitudinal associations between levels of anxiety and stress with binge eating tendencies were estimated using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), which calculates within-person fluctuations over time while accounting for individual trait-like stability and between-person variations. Binge eating tendencies were measured by the Cognitive Restraint, Uncontrolled Eating, and Emotional Eating styles from the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. Two models were created for each binge eating tendencies variable: (1) a basic model with anxiety and stress as independent variables; (2) an interaction model with an additional anxiety*stress interaction term. Model fit was assessed by SEM fit indices: X2, CFI, NFI, TLI, RMSEA, SRMR. Superior model fit was ascertained by a chi-square difference test (p < .05). Results For Cognitive Restraint, the interaction model demonstrated superior fit to the data (p < .05). The anxiety*stress interaction at Waves 1 and 2 was significantly negatively associated with Cognitive Restraint at Waves 2 (β = −0.18, p = .002) and 3 (β = −0.14, p = .002)—suggesting that anxiety and stress interacted to predict increased binge eating tendencies linked with cognitive restraint over and above their independent effects. In contrast, the interaction term between anxiety*stress did not predict levels of Uncontrolled Eating or Emotional Eating over time. Conclusions The results highlight the importance of increasing awareness of the interaction between concurrently high anxiety and stress as a potential risk factor for binge eating tendencies in young people. Trial registration Not applicable.

Examining associations between symptoms of eating disorders and symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and perceived family functioning in university students: A brief report

“…Moreover, physical anxiety was the most central node, in accordance with prior longitudinal research with adolescents (Puccio et al, 2017), and also with a network study reporting strong interconnectedness between anxiety and ED symptoms in patients with EDs (Forrest et al, 2019). Anxiety symptoms were also associated with binge behavior, and minimally associated with compensatory behavior, which fits with literature (Lim et al, 2021; Martín et al, 2019). Thus, our findings highlight the role of physical anxiety and cognitive depressive symptoms as factors involved in the association between ED symptoms and SI, as observed by Gómez del Barrio et al (2022).…”

Changes in patterns of eating habits and food intake during the first German COVID-19 lockdown: results of a cross-sectional online survey

“…Findings from Germany [ 6 , 7 ] and many other countries [ 8 ] revealed high levels of psychological distress as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression in large parts of the general population. It is well accepted that food intake may serve as a coping strategy in dealing with uncomfortable feelings and difficult aspects of life in affluent societies [ 9 , 10 ]. Besides longtime lockdown, perceived nutritional insecurity and confinement force people to develop new routines of daily activities such as meal planning.…”

Subclinical binge eating symptoms in early adolescence and its preceding and concurrent factors: a population-based study

“…However, when mothers reported on emotional and behavioral problems of their children, only associations between emotional problems and LOC eating and of behavioral problems with overeating were found. Prospective studies in adolescents indeed suggest that negative affect, anxiety, stress and attentional impulsivity may predict binge eating symptoms [ 19 , 29 , 62 , 63 ]. Moreover, the direction of effects between binge eating symptoms and depression may differ by type of symptom: a bi-directional association of depressive symptoms with overeating and binge eating was observed in previous research over a one-year period, while a unidirectional association was observed from depressive symptoms towards LOC eating [ 64 ].…”