Background: The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effects of resilience on the relation between interpersonal stress and binge eating behavior in female college students. Methods: We investigated the relationships among interpersonal stress, resilience, and binge eating behavior of 213 female college students, and examined the moderating effects of resilience and its subcomponents (sense of control, sociality, and positivity) on the relationship between interpersonal stress and binge eating behavior through hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: Firstly, interpersonal stress indicated significant negative correlation with resilience and indicated significant positive correlation with binge eating behavior. Resilience and binge eating behavior indicated significant negative correlation. Secondly, resilience did not moderate the relation between interpersonal stress and binge eating behavior of female college students. However, the sense of control, an aspect of resilience, moderated the relationship between interpersonal stress and binge eating behavior of female college students. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that higher interpersonal stress may increase the risk for binge eating behavior and that higher resilience may protect against binge eating behavior. The sense of control, an aspect of resilience, may enhance associations between interpersonal stress and binge eating behaviors in female college students.

Background: This study investigated the effects of stress events (reduced income, change of jobs, family conflicts, and conflicts with acquaintances) experienced in the prolonged COVID-19 situation on psychological distress (peritraumatic distress, depression, and loneliness). It also tested the moderating effects of social support between them according to the stress-buffering model. Methods: Data was collected from 800 adult men and women, including early adulthood (ages 19∼30), early middle-aged adulthood (ages 31∼45), late middle-aged adulthood (ages 46∼64), and late adulthood (ages 65 and older), via an online survey covering peritraumatic distress, loneliness, depression, and social support. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the moderating effects of social support. Results: First, reduced income, change of jobs, and interpersonal conflicts experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic were positively associated with peritraumatic distress, depression, and loneliness. However, social support was negatively associated with them. Second, social support had no moderating effects on the impacts of change of jobs and reduced income on peritraumatic distress, depression, and loneliness. It had moderating effects only on the influences of interpersonal conflicts. Finally, the study examined the moderating effects of social support by the age group and found that it mitigated the impacts of interpersonal conflicts in all of the age groups except for the early middle-aged group. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that social support can mitigate psychological distress due to interpersonal stress in a pandemic situation and imply a need for differentiated intervention according to the different stress-buffering effects of social support according to age groups.

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