Longitudinal associations between response-style strategies and abnormal eating behaviors/attitudes in adolescents: a cross-lagged panel model

Abstract Background Previous studies have suggested that response-style strategies (rumination, problem-solving, and distraction) can be risk or protective factors for the development of abnormal eating behaviors/attitudes (AEB) during adolescence. However, due to limited empirical data regarding the prospective effects of these strategies on AEB, further research is needed to clarify their role in developing AEB in adolescence. Methods This study investigated the one-year lagged effects of response-style strategies on AEB in 24,883 fourth- to eighth-grade students in Japan between 2015 and 2019 using a cross-lagged panel model. Depressive symptoms and body mass index (BMI), which are reported to relate to AEB, were also included in the analytic model. The students self-reported their levels of response-style strategies, AEB, and depressive symptoms. We also evaluated BMI based on teachers’ reports. Results We found that greater rumination significantly predicted more severe AEB in the following year among students from all grades, with small to moderate effect sizes. In addition, distraction significantly predicted more severe binge eating/purging behaviors, but with very weak small effect sizes. Problem-solving did not predict any level of AEB. Furthermore, we observed significant reciprocal relationships between response-style strategies, AEB, and depressive symptoms. Positive reciprocal associations between BMI and AEB were also found except for some intervals. Conclusions We concluded that a decrease in rumination is critical to alleviating mental health problems, such as AEB and depressive symptoms, during adolescence. This suggests that interventions to reduce the level of rumination should be conducted in the early stages of adolescence. Trial Registration Number: Not Applicable

Correction: Adaptation of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) to preschool children.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199590.]

ASSQ percentiles.

<p>ASSQ percentiles.</p

Internal consistency of the ASSQ.

<p>Internal consistency of the ASSQ.</p

Two-way analysis of variance for ASSQ total scores.

<p>Two-way analysis of variance for ASSQ total scores.</p

Inpact of ASSQ cutoff score on sensitivity and specificity.

<p>Inpact of ASSQ cutoff score on sensitivity and specificity.</p

一般小中学生における食行動異常の実態とメンタルヘルスおよび社会的不適応との関連

金沢大学人間社会研究域人間科学系一般小中学生における食行動異常の実態について, 性別・学年による差異, 併存症状としてのメンタルヘルス指標との関連, リスク要因としての社会的不適応との関連という3つの観点から検討した。一般小中学生を対象に質問紙調査を実施し, 4,952名（男子2,511名, 女子2,441名）から有効回答を得た。独自に作成した小中学生用食行動異常尺度について確認的因子分析を行った結果, “やせ願望・体型不満”と“過食”の2因子構造が支持されるとともに, 性別, 学年段階, 体型による因子構造の不変性が確認された。“やせ願望・体型不満”は, 全体に女子が男子より高い得点を示したが, 特に中2, 中3で女子の得点が顕著に高くなっていた。“過食”では顕著な男女差や学年差が見られなかったが, 女子では, 学年とともにやや得点の上昇が見られた。メンタルヘルスとの関連では, “やせ願望・体型不満”が抑うつと比較的強い相関を示したのに対し, “過食”は攻撃性と比較的強い相関を示した。社会的不適応との関連では, “学業”, “家族関係”に加え, 男子では“友人関係”, 女子では“教師関係”が食行動異常と有意な関連を示した。The present study surveyed the current status of abnormal eating behavior among elementary and junior high school students, using a self-report questionnaire designed by the authors. Valid responses were obtained from 4,952 students (2,511 boys and 2,441 girls) who were in elementary school grades 4 through 6, and in all 3 years of junior high school. Confirmatory factor analysis of the questionnaire data supported a two-factor structure: “drive for thinness” and “bulimia”, and measurement invariance across gender, grade, and body mass index (BMI). The scores on drive for thinness were higher for the girls than for the boys, especially in grades 8 and 9. Although the score distribution for bulimia was similar across gender and grade, the girls’ scores increased slightly with grade. Drive for thinness was more strongly correlated with depression than with aggression, whereas bulimia was more strongly correlated with aggression. Both factors were correlated with academic performance problems and family relationships in both the boys and the girls, specifically with the boys’ peer problems and the girls’ student-teacher relationship problems