A latent profile analysis of the EPSI: Mapping anxiety, distress tolerance, and anxiety sensitivity with disordered eating symptomatology among university students

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Disordered eating (DE) is associated with a plethora of psychosocial risk factors, including anxiety and substance use disorders. The Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI) is a validated questionnaire to assess DE. There are no latent profile analyses (LPA) of the EPSI that also examines these profiles with regards to important psychosocial risk factors. The purpose of this study was to fill that gap by connecting latent profiles of the EPSI subscales with anxiety, distress tolerance (DT), anxiety sensitivity (AS), and alcohol use (AU). METHODS: The sample comprised of 1,362 college students from a midwestern university who participated in an online health survey. The EPSI scale profiles were identified using LPA with robust maximum likelihood estimation, and ANOVAs were run to determine if the classes differed across anxiety, AS, DT, and AU. RESULTS: A four-class solution was found to be optimal (entropy>.96). Class 1 (49.4%) had the lowest levels of DE and alcohol problems; Class 2 (10.6%) had the highest scores for excessive exercise and along with Class 4, the highest beliefs on alcohol centrality; Class 3 (31.4%) comprised of participants who endorsed body dissatisfaction, restriction, and moderately high anxiety; and Class 4 (8.1%) had the highest EPSI scores across all subscales, as well as the highest levels of anxiety and problems with alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Several latent profiles were found for the EPSI subscales and Class 4 represented the most problematic levels. Identifying this subgroup of college students may help develop interventions and treatment to address these interrelated behaviors.