Pettersen Johanne H, Hegemann Laura, Gustavson Kristin, Lund Ingunn Olea, Jensen Pia, Bulik Cynthia M, Andreassen Ole A, Havdahl Alexandra, Brandlistuen Ragnhild E, Hannigan Laurie, Ask Helga
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
PsychGen Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Int J Eat Disord. 2025 Jan;58(1):193-205. doi: 10.1002/eat.24314. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
Studies suggest that adolescents reported more eating problems during the pandemic. Using a population-based sample, we compared eating problems-and how they associate with a range of personal characteristics and genetic factors-among adolescents before (June 2017-April 2020) versus during (April 2020-December 2022) the pandemic.
Based on a preregistered analysis plan, we used cross-sectional data collected from 22,706 14-16-year-olds over 6 years (55% during the pandemic) in the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort. We used measurement invariance analyses to compare the level of eating restraint and body concern before and during the pandemic, and multi-group structural equation models to estimate pre-pandemic and pandemic patterns of associations.
Pandemic responders generally reported more eating problems than pre-pandemic responders, specifically on dieting and body dissatisfaction. However, after adjusting for a general linear increase in eating problems across all 6 years of data collection, the pandemic itself seems to be associated with more eating problems only among girls, reporting more eating restraints (meanΔ = 0.14 [CI: 0.07, 0.20]) and body concern (meanΔ = 0.17 [CI: 0.11, 0.23]). Associations between eating problems and a range of other characteristics did not differ across the pandemic and pre-pandemic groups.
There was a general increase in eating problems among 14-16-year-olds over time. Adjusting for this trend, the pandemic seems to exacerbate problems among girls. Although the mechanisms are unclear, our results point to factors susceptible to change that could have been intensified during the pandemic (e.g., screen time, mental distress). Our results highlight the importance of recognizing sex-specific differences in eating problems.
研究表明，青少年在疫情期间报告的饮食问题更多。我们使用基于人群的样本，比较了疫情之前（2017年6月至2020年4月）和疫情期间（2020年4月至2022年12月）青少年的饮食问题，以及这些问题与一系列个人特征和遗传因素之间的关联。
基于预先注册的分析计划，我们使用了从挪威母亲、父亲和儿童队列中6年（疫情期间占55%）收集的22706名14至16岁青少年的横断面数据。我们使用测量不变性分析来比较疫情之前和期间的饮食克制和身体关注水平，并使用多组结构方程模型来估计疫情之前和期间的关联模式。
疫情期间的受访者普遍比疫情之前的受访者报告了更多的饮食问题，特别是在节食和身体不满方面。然而，在对整个6年数据收集期间饮食问题的总体线性增加进行调整后，疫情本身似乎仅与女孩中更多的饮食问题相关，她们报告了更多的饮食克制（平均差异=0.14[置信区间：0.07，0.20]）和身体关注（平均差异=0.17[置信区间：0.11，0.23]）。饮食问题与一系列其他特征之间的关联在疫情组和疫情前组之间没有差异。
随着时间的推移，14至16岁青少年的饮食问题普遍增加。在调整这一趋势后，疫情似乎加剧了女孩中的问题。尽管机制尚不清楚，但我们的结果指出了在疫情期间可能被强化的易变因素（如屏幕时间、精神困扰）。我们的结果强调了认识到饮食问题中性别差异的重要性。
