Associations Between Multiple Types of Stress and Disordered Eating Among Girls and Boys in Middle School

Abstract

Stress is common during adolescence, yet no known studies have linked particular types of stress (performance, relationship, education, financial, and family) with disordered eating among adolescents in middle school. The present study investigated sex differences in types of stress and how multiple types of stress were associated with girls' and boys' body dissatisfaction, dieting behaviors, and bulimic symptoms. We found that girls reported higher levels of stress than boys and that different associations between stress and disordered eating existed for girls and boys. We also examined a path model for both sexes such that stress first led to body dissatisfaction, which then led to dieting and finally bulimic symptoms. Our model was supported for girls with performance, relationship, and family stress driving the process. For boys, all five types of stress were associated with body dissatisfaction, which was linked with dieting; however, the relation between dieting and bulimic symptoms was not significant. Future research and therapy should focus on the unique experiences of each sex in order to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in coping with stress and promoting healthy development.

Cyberbullying Victimization as a Predictor of Cyberbullying Perpetration, Body Image Dissatisfaction, Healthy Eating and Dieting Behaviors, and Life Satisfaction

“…Furthermore, studies report that sex differences occur in dieting behavior. Post hoc analyses revealed that victimized females exhibited dieting behavior than the males did, which is consistent with a previous study by Salafia and Lemer (2012) that found that females in middle school experience disordered eating habits to lose weight in comparison with males. However, cyberbullying alone may not be the sole predictor of eating behaviors; additional factors may also explain why adolescents are exhibiting dieting behaviors such as poor self-esteem and depression (Rasmus, Anna-Lisa, Mauri, Riittakerttu, & Kaj, 2010).…”

Personality correlates of eating pathology severity and subtypes in The National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement

“…These findings extend previous results that neuroticism and impulsivity reliably differentiate individuals with EP from healthy controls (Cassin & von Ranson, 2005; Farstad et al, 2016) by showing where in the severity continuum specific traits may be relevant. Together, these findings align with dimensional models of psychopathology (Sanislow et al, 2010) in suggesting that more extreme personality trait endorsements are useful in differentiating severity of eating difficulties along a gradient from mild to severe (e.g., Wolz et al, 2015; see also Hawkins & Clement, 1984; Blodgett Salafia & Lemer, 2012), and demonstrate how categorical groups may be used to complement a dimensional approach. Expanding these dimensional conceptualizations of EP and its risk factors may facilitate a deeper understanding of risk trajectories from preclinical weight concerns to clinical EDs, diagnostic crossover between ED diagnoses (Stice et al, 2009), and co‐occurrence of EDs with other forms of psychopathology (e.g., substance use disorders; anxiety disorders; various Personality Disorders; Carbaugh & Sias, 2010; Levinson et al, 2018; Farstad et al, 2016; Serpell, Hirani, Willoughby, Neiderman, & Lask, 2006).…”

Parental deployment and distress, and adolescent disordered eating in prevention‐seeking military dependents

“…Previous research has shown that frequent deployments and more cumulative time deployed is associated with parental distress (Lester et al, 2010) and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing behaviors (Milburn & Lightfoot, 2013). Although unexplored in pediatric military samples, there is support from the civilian literature that family stress is associated with (Blodgett Salafia & Lemer, 2012;Martyn-Nemeth, Penckofer, Gulanick, Velsor-Friedrich, & Bryant, 2009) and predictive of (Allen, Gibson, McLean, Davis, & Byrne, 2014;Lyke & Matsen, 2013) disordered eating and eating disorder risk factors. However, in the present study we did not find direct links among number of deployments, parental stress, and disordered eating; thus, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the combination of greater frequency of deployments and higher parental distress are associated with higher F I G U R E 1 (a) Moderation model examining the relationship between number of deployments, parental distress, and weight/shape composite score (n = 126).…”