Mrug Sylvie, Jones LaRita C, Elliott Marc N, Tortolero Susan R, Peskin Melissa F, Schuster Mark A
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
J Adolesc Health. 2021 Jan;68(1):155-160. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.05.034. Epub 2020 Jul 4.
Previous studies showed associations between soft drink consumption and mental health problems in adolescents, but the direction of these effects is unknown. This study examines the hypotheses that soft drink consumption predicts aggression and depressive symptoms over time and that these mental health problems predict soft drink consumption.
Interviews were conducted with 5,147 children and their caregivers from three sites at child ages 11, 13, and 16. At each time point, youth reported on their frequency of consuming soft drinks, aggressive behavior, and depressive symptoms. An autoregressive cross-lagged path model tested reciprocal relationships between soft drink consumption, aggressive behavior, and depressive symptoms over time.
More frequent consumption of soft drinks was associated with more aggressive behavior at each time point and depressive symptoms at ages 11 and 13 (r = .04 to .18, p ≤ .002). After adjusting for covariates and stability of each behavior over time, soft drink consumption at ages 11 and 13 predicted more aggressive behavior at the next time point (β = .08 and .06, p < .001). Aggressive behavior at age 13 also predicted more soft drink consumption at age 16 (β = .06, p = .002). Soft drink consumption at age 13 predicted fewer depressive symptoms (β = -.04, p = .007), but depressive symptoms did not predict soft drink consumption.
More frequent consumption of soft drinks may contribute to aggressive behavior in adolescents over time; there is some support for reciprocal relationships. There is no evidence for soft drink consumption contributing to adolescents' depression. Future research should examine longitudinal effects over shorter intervals.
先前的研究表明青少年软饮料消费与心理健康问题之间存在关联，但这些影响的方向尚不清楚。本研究检验以下假设：随着时间的推移，软饮料消费会预测攻击行为和抑郁症状，并且这些心理健康问题会预测软饮料消费。
对来自三个地点的5147名儿童及其照顾者在儿童11岁、13岁和16岁时进行了访谈。在每个时间点，青少年报告他们饮用软饮料的频率、攻击行为和抑郁症状。一个自回归交叉滞后路径模型测试了随着时间推移软饮料消费、攻击行为和抑郁症状之间的相互关系。
在每个时间点，更频繁地饮用软饮料与更多的攻击行为以及11岁和13岁时的抑郁症状相关（r = 0.04至0.18，p≤0.002）。在调整协变量和每种行为随时间的稳定性后，11岁和13岁时的软饮料消费预测了下一个时间点更多的攻击行为（β = 0.08和0.06，p < 0.001）。13岁时的攻击行为也预测了16岁时更多的软饮料消费（β = 0.06，p = 0.002）。13岁时的软饮料消费预测了较少的抑郁症状（β = -0.04，p = 0.007），但抑郁症状并未预测软饮料消费。
随着时间的推移，更频繁地饮用软饮料可能会导致青少年的攻击行为；有一些证据支持相互关系。没有证据表明软饮料消费会导致青少年抑郁。未来的研究应该在更短的时间间隔内研究纵向影响。
