Zhang Jihong, Cui Shuqi, Zickgraf Hana F, Barnhart Wesley R, Xu Yinuo, Wang Ziyue, Ji Feng, Chen Gui, He Jinbo
Department of Counseling, Leadership and Research Methods, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
Division of Applied Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Int J Eat Disord. 2024 Dec;57(12):2415-2426. doi: 10.1002/eat.24292. Epub 2024 Oct 4.
The present longitudinal study examined sex-specific, symptom-level relationships among emotion regulation (ER), interpersonal problems (IP), and eating disorder (ED) psychopathology in a large sample of Chinese adolescents.
Data were from a project with four waves of data collection (N = 1540; 710 boys and 830 girls) at 6-month intervals over 18 months. Questionnaires assessed ED psychopathology, ER, and IP at each wave of data collection. Longitudinal network analyses were conducted separately for boys and girls. Sex differences in the network structures were also examined.
The results revealed pronounced heterogeneity in the presentation of ED psychopathology, ER, and IP across Chinese adolescent boys and girls longitudinally and intra-individually. For example, weight/shape preoccupation in ED psychopathology and awareness in ER emerged as important nodes in the temporal network for boys. However, weight/shape preoccupation and dissatisfaction in ED psychopathology were identified as the most important nodes in the temporal network for girls. Regarding bridge strength, awareness in ER emerged as the node with the highest connectivity in the temporal network for boys. At the same time, weight/shape dissatisfaction in ED psychopathology was the node with the highest connectivity for girls.
The current study extended network theory to better understand the longitudinal interplay among ER, IP, and ED psychopathology in Chinese adolescents and their sex differences in the importance of symptoms. Such insights may pave the way for developing targeted prevention and treatment strategies for adolescent boys and girls in China.
本纵向研究在一大群中国青少年样本中，考察了情绪调节（ER）、人际问题（IP）和饮食失调（ED）心理病理学之间的性别特异性、症状水平关系。
数据来自一个为期18个月、每6个月进行一次四轮数据收集的项目（N = 1540；710名男孩和830名女孩）。在每次数据收集时，通过问卷评估饮食失调心理病理学、情绪调节和人际问题。分别对男孩和女孩进行纵向网络分析。还考察了网络结构中的性别差异。
结果显示，饮食失调心理病理学、情绪调节和人际问题在纵向和个体内部的中国青少年男孩和女孩中的表现存在明显异质性。例如，饮食失调心理病理学中的体重/体型关注和情绪调节中的觉察在男孩的时间网络中成为重要节点。然而，饮食失调心理病理学中的体重/体型关注和不满在女孩的时间网络中被确定为最重要的节点。关于桥梁强度，情绪调节中的觉察在男孩的时间网络中成为连接性最高的节点。与此同时，饮食失调心理病理学中的体重/体型不满是女孩连接性最高的节点。
当前研究扩展了网络理论，以更好地理解中国青少年中情绪调节、人际问题和饮食失调心理病理学之间的纵向相互作用，以及症状重要性方面的性别差异。这些见解可能为中国青少年男孩和女孩制定有针对性的预防和治疗策略铺平道路。
