Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (MiCOR) Program, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and the Metis Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA.
The Metis Foundation, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Eat Weight Disord. 2022 Dec;27(8):3083-3093. doi: 10.1007/s40519-022-01429-z. Epub 2022 Jul 19.
Evidence suggests that difficulties identifying and describing one's feelings, core components of alexithymia, are associated with attitudinal and behavioral symptoms of disordered eating; depressive symptoms also may underlie these associations. Specifically, research indicates that alexithymia is positively related to depressive symptoms, which in turn may promote both disordered-eating attitudes and certain disinhibited-eating behaviors (e.g., emotional eating). Findings also suggest that military-dependent youth with high weight may exhibit elevated depressive symptoms and disordered eating. As such, understanding associations among alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating is particularly relevant for this vulnerable population.
We examined 149 adolescent military dependents (14.4 ± 1.6y; 55.0% female; 20.0% non-Hispanic Black; BMIz: 1.9 ± 0.4) at high risk for binge-eating disorder and obesity in adulthood. Participants completed questionnaires assessing two components of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings [DIF] and difficulty describing feelings [DDF]), depressive symptoms, emotional eating, and trait anxiety; disordered-eating attitudes were assessed via semi-structured interview.
A series of regression-based models examined indirect relationships of DIF and DDF with disordered-eating attitudes and emotional eating through depressive symptoms. Bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals revealed a significant indirect path from each of the alexithymia components to disordered-eating attitudes via depressive symptoms; indirect paths to emotional eating were non-significant.
Results support the salience of depressive symptoms in the relationship between alexithymia and disordered-eating attitudes. Future research should utilize prospective designs and explore direct and indirect associations of alexithymia with other disordered-eating behaviors.
Level III, evidence obtained from a well-designed cohort study.
有证据表明，难以识别和描述自己的感受是述情障碍的核心组成部分，与饮食失调的态度和行为症状有关；抑郁症状也可能是这些关联的基础。具体来说，研究表明，述情障碍与抑郁症状呈正相关，而抑郁症状反过来又可能促进饮食失调的态度和某些抑制性饮食行为（例如，情绪化进食）。研究结果还表明，体重较高的依赖军人的青少年可能表现出更高的抑郁症状和饮食失调。因此，了解述情障碍、抑郁症状和饮食失调之间的关联对这一弱势群体尤为重要。
我们研究了 149 名处于成年期暴食障碍和肥胖高风险中的青少年军人依赖者（14.4±1.6 岁；55.0%为女性；20.0%为非西班牙裔黑人；BMIz：1.9±0.4）。参与者完成了评估述情障碍两个组成部分（难以识别感受[DIF]和难以描述感受[DDF]）、抑郁症状、情绪性进食和特质焦虑的问卷；通过半结构化访谈评估饮食失调态度。
一系列基于回归的模型通过抑郁症状检验了 DIF 和 DDF 与饮食失调态度和情绪性进食之间的间接关系。bootstrap 95%置信区间显示，述情障碍的每个组成部分都通过抑郁症状与饮食失调态度存在显著的间接关系；到情绪性进食的间接路径不显著。
结果支持抑郁症状在述情障碍和饮食失调态度之间关系中的重要性。未来的研究应采用前瞻性设计，并探索述情障碍与其他饮食失调行为的直接和间接关联。
三级，来源于精心设计的队列研究的证据。
