Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA.
Int J Eat Disord. 2023 Oct;56(10):1842-1853. doi: 10.1002/eat.24012. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
Previous studies have revealed associations between disordered eating symptoms, big-five personality traits, and psychological distress. However, limited research has explored these relationships as a network, including their interconnections, and even less has done so in non-Western populations. We employed network analysis to investigate the co-occurrence of disordered eating symptoms, big-five personality traits, and psychological distress in Chinese adults.
A sample of 500 Chinese adults (256 men) completed measures assessing big-five personality traits, psychological distress, and disordered eating symptoms. The network of personality traits, psychological distress, and disordered eating symptoms was estimated, including its central and bridge nodes.
The central nodes in the network were the facets of openness (like adventure), extraversion (like going to social and recreational parties), and disordered eating symptoms (dissatisfaction with body weight or shape). Moreover, certain facets of neuroticism (always worrying something bad will happen), psychological distress (feeling worthless), and an inverse facet of extraversion (bored by parties with lots of people) were identified as essential bridge nodes in maintaining the structure of the network.
Our findings suggest that personality traits (e.g., openness and extraversion) and body dissatisfaction are important in maintaining the network in a community sample of Chinese adults. While future replication is needed, findings from this study suggest that individuals with negative self-thinking, predisposed neuroticism, and extraversion may be at risk of developing disordered eating symptoms.
The present study contributes to existing knowledge by employing a network perspective to examine the associations between disordered eating symptoms, big-five personality traits, and psychological distress in a Chinese adult community sample. The identified facets of neuroticism and extraversion and symptoms of psychological distress may be worthy of targeting in the prevention and treatment of disordered eating in the Chinese context.
先前的研究揭示了饮食失调症状、大五人格特质和心理困扰之间的关联。然而，有限的研究探索了这些关系作为一个网络，包括它们的相互联系，甚至在非西方人群中更是如此。我们采用网络分析方法研究了中国成年人饮食失调症状、大五人格特质和心理困扰的共同发生。
一个由 500 名中国成年人（256 名男性）组成的样本完成了评估大五人格特质、心理困扰和饮食失调症状的测量。人格特质、心理困扰和饮食失调症状的网络被估计，包括其中心和桥梁节点。
网络中的中心节点是开放性特质（如冒险）、外向性特质（如参加社交和娱乐性聚会）和饮食失调症状（对体重或体型不满）的各个方面。此外，神经质特质的某些方面（总是担心坏事会发生）、心理困扰（感到自己毫无价值）和外向性特质的一个反面（对有很多人的聚会感到无聊）被确定为维持网络结构的重要桥梁节点。
我们的研究结果表明，人格特质（如开放性和外向性）和身体不满在维持中国成年人社区样本网络中很重要。虽然需要进一步的复制研究，但这项研究的结果表明，具有消极自我思维、易患神经质特质和外向性特质的个体可能有发展饮食失调症状的风险。
本研究通过采用网络视角，考察了中国成年人社区样本中饮食失调症状、大五人格特质和心理困扰之间的关联，为现有知识做出了贡献。神经质和外向性特质的各个方面以及心理困扰的症状可能值得作为中国语境下饮食失调预防和治疗的目标。
