Disordered Eating in First Year University Students - A Qualitative Study Exploring Student and Supportive Service Needs

Abstract

The study reports on a qualitative study exploring disordered eating in younger first-year students studying for professional health care related degrees (n=12), and illustrates some of the support mechanisms and services required to better support these students.Key issues emerging in relation to disordered eating included: lack of understanding to the nature/ risks associated; its use as a stress coping mechanism; isolation; perception as mental health issues with attaching stigma and reticence to acknowledge; concealed experience; wariness of eating in more public refectories. Finally positivity about their arrival at university and that their experience with disordered eating could potentially add to their repertoire as future health care professionals.The University could; further develop its outreach to new students with a more consistently supportive program including stress training and more support via student buddying; extend its program on positive mental health; greater awareness particularly the sub-clinical group; consider some small changes and adaptations to the refectory eating areas to better facilitate at-risk students. Significantly the University could perhaps better use the first few months of student's arrival at university to help embed a program to develop a stronger sense of coherence and wellbeing. Disordered Eating in First Year Review ArticleOpen Access BackgroundDisordered eating represents an over focus on body shape and weight reflecting in conditions marked by abnormal and disrupted attitudes to food and patterns of eating [1,2]. Evidence suggests that adolescence and early adulthood are the most vulnerable times to develop disordered eating patterns and predominantly those affected are young women aged 15-25 years [3][4][5]. Disordered eating can form part of a spectrum of disturbed eating patterns and behaviour presenting both in terms of significant and evident disability (clinical anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating) or as a 'subclinical syndrome' but with a significant risk of psychological, social and physiological damage [3,[6][7][8][9]. The use of the term 'disordered eating' is possibly less pathologising and stigmatising than the use of the term 'eating disorder' and the connotations that may attached to this. The term disordered eating can reflect more the spectrum of disturbed eating patterns evident to the researcher during the course of the study and in reviewing the collective narrative from discussion.The first year as an undergraduate university student can be significantly stressful [2,[10][11][12]. We also know that stress may contribute to, or trigger patterns of disordered eating [4,13]. Young people cope with stress in various ways [14,15], and disordered eating patterns may represent a coping mechanism in periods of acute/on chronic stress [4,[16][17][18][19].Some of the contributory factors to a sense of coherence may help protectively for those who may be at risk [20][21][22]. A sense of coherence is represented by the ability to c...

Aging anxieties and disturbed eating in female students: It’s not all about aging appearance concern

“…In particular, concern about the psychological challenges and interpersonal losses they could experience in later life best predict DE with personal alienation a correlate common to both. This confirms other research on female university students showing interpersonal concerns such as feelings of alienation and isolation associate strongly with DE in this group ( Power & Lazenbatt, 2015 ). Finally, the findings challenge empirical and theoretical evidence suggesting the link between aging anxiety and DE is driven by aging appearance concerns.…”

“…For example, anxiety about the psychological challenges and social and interpersonal losses associated with aging could make current and future life dissatisfactions salient. The link between these aging concerns and scores on EDI-3 scales that indicate personal and interpersonal ineffectiveness, along with personal alienation in particular, also suggest this and confirm research findings that DE amongst female university students associates with greater interpersonal problems ( Stapleton & Empson, 2013 ) and alienation ( Power & Lazenbatt, 2015 ). Those with less purpose in life also report more DE ( Cottingham, Davis, Craycraft, Keiper, & Abernethy, 2014 ).…”