Gender-related Risk and Protective Factors for Depressive Symptoms and Disordered Eating in Adolescence: A 4-year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The interplay between intrapersonal risk (low self-esteem, perfectionism and body dissatisfaction) and interpersonal protection (social support) appears relevant for delineating gender-specific pathways that lead to both depressive and eating psychopathology. The aims of this longitudinal study were to examine gender differences in the levels of depressive symptoms, disordered eating and the co-occurrence of both problems from preadolescence to mid-adolescence and to identify gender-specific risk and protective factors of depressive symptoms and disordered eating. A Spanish community-based sample initially comprising 942 early adolescents (49% females) was assessed at baseline (T1; X (age) = 10.8 years) and at 2 and 4-year follow-up (T2 and T3). Gender differences emerged at T2 for disordered eating and at T3 for depressive symptoms and for co-occurring depressive symptoms and disordered eating. Predictors of depressive symptoms were body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem and fear of getting fat, for girls, and body dissatisfaction and low self-esteem, for boys. Predictors of disordered eating were body dissatisfaction, depressive symptoms, BMI and perfectionism, for girls, and low social support and BMI, for boys. In addition, for boys only, social support moderated the effect of body dissatisfaction on depressive symptoms and the effect of depressive symptoms on disordered eating. The hypotheses of the study were partially supported. Clinical implications are derived regarding the components that should be included in programs for preventing depression and eating disorders in both girls and boys.

Comparación social de la apariencia en contextos de ejercicio físico como variable predictora de los trastornos de la conducta alimentaria en adolescentes de ambos sexos

“…De entre este tipo de trastornos, el grupo de los relacionados con la conducta alimentaria (TCA) se muestra como uno de los más prevalentes (Klump, 2013). En este sentido, estudios que consideraron muestras de adolescentes europeos de entre 12 y 18 años sugieren que entre el 8-18% de los chicos y el 22-31% de las chicas podrían encontrarse en riesgo de sufrir un TCA (Ferreiro, Seoane, & Senra, 2012;Herpertz-Dahlmann, Dempfle, Konrad, Klasen, & Ravens-Sieberer, 2015;Veses et al, 2014). Estas cifras resultan especialmente preocupantes, en concreto, atendiendo a las evidencias que sugieren que experimentar un TCA durante la adolescencia podría aumentar el riesgo de sufrir sobrepeso, obesidad y depresión durante las primeras etapas de la edad adulta (Herpertz-Dahlmann et al, 2015).…”

“…Cuadernos del Profesorado,10(21) aparición de los TCA (Klump, 2013). Además, pese a que los TCA se muestran menos prevalentes en chicos que en chicas, la investigación señala que este tipo de desórdenes también afectan a un número importante de chicos (Ferreiro et al, 2012;Veses et al, 2014). De igual forma, cabe destacar que el contenido de las herramientas empleadas en los trabajos que previamente consideraron la relación entre la comparación de la apariencia y la presencia de TCA aludían tanto a la tendencia a la comparación realizada de manera genérica (Fitzsimmons-Craft et al, 2014Halliwell & Harvey, 2006) como a diferentes contextos y situaciones en los cuales dicha comparación podría producirse (Schaefer & Thompson, 2014).…”

“…Atendiendo a los resultados de anteriores estudios que consideraron muestras formadas exclusivamente por mujeres (FitzsimmonsCraft et al, 2014(FitzsimmonsCraft et al, , 2012Schaefer & Thompson, 2014), se hipotetizó que la comparación de la propia apariencia y, en concreto, la ocurrida en el contexto de la práctica de ejercicio físico, contribuiría a explicar el riesgo de aparición de TCA tanto en chicas como en chicos. A su vez, se espera que dicha relación se produzca una vez controlados los efectos que sobre el riesgo de presencia de TCA podrían ejercer variables como sexo (Ferreiro et al, 2012;Veses et al, 2014), IMC (Ferreiro et al, 2012;Fitzsimmons-Craft et al, 2014Schaefer & Thompson, 2014), edad (Ferreiro et al, 2012), o insatisfacción corporal (Ferreiro et al, 2012;Rohde, Stice, & Marti, 2015). La investigación previa sugiere que los factores que contribuyen a la aparición de los TCA podrían no resultar universalmente válidos, de forma que éstos podrían variar en función de variables como el sexo (Ferreiro et al, 2012;Mayer-Brown, Lawless, Fedele, Dumont-Driscoll, & Janicke, 2016) o la edad (Rohde et al, 2015).…”

Environmental factors associated with disordered weight-control behaviours among youth: a systematic review

“…*Studies that examined multiple environmental constructs were counted multiple times, with ninety-three studies and a total of 297 constructs counted (grouped by the categories shown); n refers to the number of times a particular construct was examined, not the number of studies Similar to cross-sectional studies, parental, peer and media influences emerged as the most frequent exposures examined in relation to DWCB (see Supplemental (89) . Several gender differences emerged in studies' findings: parental weight concerns and behaviours were a risk factor for females (OR 5 1?2-1?3) (35) ; frequent family meals were protective against DWCB among females (OR 5 0?7-0?9) but increased risk for skipping meals and eating very little food among males (OR 5 1?8) (35,88) ; positive family atmosphere was protective for females (OR 5 0?6-0?8) (35,89) ; maternal history of an eating disorder (OR 5 2?8) and trying to look like females in the media were risk factors for females (OR 5 1?5) (37) ; and importance of weight to peers (OR 5 3?4) (37) , friend connectedness (OR 5 1?7) (35) and low social support from family and friends (b 5 0?2) were risk factors among males (100) . A dose-response association was observed between frequency of reading diet/weightloss magazine articles and DWCB among females (OR 5 2?0-3?2 for those who often read these types of articles v. those who never read these articles) (99) .…”

Phase I of the Detecting and Evaluating Childhood Anxiety and Depression Effectively in Subspecialties (DECADES) Study: Development of an Integrated Mental Health Care Model for Pediatric Gastroenterology (Preprint)

“…[3,4] Rates of depression and anxiety are significantly higher in children with chronic illnesses, [5] including gastrointestinal disorders, [6,7] than in the general population. Furthermore, children with depression or anxiety are far more likely to have somatic complaints and have greater utilization of subspecialty care, especially in gastroenterology.…”