Disordered eating,self‐esteem, and depression symptoms in Iranian adolescents and young adults: A network analysis

Abstract

Objective The network theory of psychopathology examines networks of interconnections across symptoms. Several network studies of disordered eating have identified central and bridge symptoms in Western samples, yet network models of disordered eating have not been tested in non‐Western samples. The current study tested a network model of disordered eating in Iranian adolescents and college students, as well as models of co‐occurring depression and self‐esteem. Method Participants were Iranian college students (n= 637) and adolescents (n = 1,111) who completed the Eating Disorder Examination‐Questionnaire (EDE‐Q), Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (RSES) and Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI‐II). We computed six Glasso networks and identified central and bridge symptoms. Results Central disordered eating nodes in most models were a desire to lose weight and discomfort when seeing one's own body. Central self‐esteem and depression nodes were feeling useless and self‐dislike, respectively. Feeling like a failure was the most common bridge symptom between disordered eating and depression symptoms. With exception of a few differences in some edges, networks did not significantly differ in structure. Discussion Desire to lose weight was the most central node in the networks, which is consistent with sociocultural theories of disordered eating development, as well as prior network models from Western‐culture samples. Feeling like a failure was the most central bridge symptom between depression and disordered eating, suggesting that very low self‐esteem may be a shared correlate or risk factor for disordered eating and depression in Iranian adolescents and young adults.

Introduction to a special issue on eating disorders in Asia

“…They found that approximately 7% screened positive for an ED, and that urban residence and higher levels of education were associated with greater risk. Meanwhile, in Iran, Sahlan et al (2021a) found that approximately 12% of adolescent boys and 13% of adolescent girls met the operational definition of a probable ED case. Perhaps most alarmingly, Chua, Fitzsimmons‐Craft, Austin, Wilfley, and Taylor (2021) studied the estimated prevalence of EDs in Singapore, reporting that while approximately 6% screened positive for a clinical ED, a further 37% screened positive for other specified feeding or eating disorder, and another 19% were at high risk for developing an ED.…”

“…This study showed that addiction‐like eating in young Asian adults was correlated with negative mood, as reported in non‐Asian samples, and also with personality traits linked to other forms of behavioral addictions. Sahlan, Williams, et al (2021a) tested a network model of disordered eating in Iranian adolescents and college students, as well as models of co‐occurring depression and self‐esteem. Within this group, desire to lose weight was the most central node in the network, consistent with sociocultural theories of ED development and transdiagnostic models of EDs.…”

The Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy on Children’s Self-Esteem

“…Cultivation of self-esteem in early childhood reinforces positive values that can help children optimally cope with dynamic life situations [3,[9][10][11][12][13], and is related to several markers of wellbeing, such as happiness, life satisfaction, self-confidence in social situations, sociability, and optimism [14,15]. However, low self-esteem among children is associated with negative thoughts, avoidance of new experiences, difficulty in managing conflicts [1,16], poor physical and mental health later in life [17], depression [18,19], loneliness [20], suicidal thoughts [21], suicide attempts [22], eating disorders [23,24], anxiety [25], behavioral problems [26], drug and alcohol addictions [27], as well as criminal and anti-social behavior [27]. It is not surprising, then, that high self-esteem has been identified as a buffer against the onset of mental illness in childhood [28] and it functions as a mechanism for reducing stress [29] even when they face extremely stressful situations [25,30].…”

Exploring Young Adulthood Psychopathology Networks Related to Depression Using Partial Correlation Network and Bayesian Network

“…There have been several studies on network analysis of psychopathology in young adulthood. However, most studies were conducted on groups in the general population, such as college students 16 , or on the general population focusing on eating disorders 17 . In our previous study 18 , using the same sample, the effect of verbal abuse on psychiatric symptoms was mainly studied.…”