Li Sihong, Luo Xuerong, Song Lintong, Gao Xueping, Shen Yanmei
Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, and National Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410011, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Nov 12;17:3875-3887. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S489186. eCollection 2024.
Childhood maltreatment contributes to an increased risk of eating disorders in adolescents. However, less is known regarding the underlying mechanism between childhood maltreatment and eating disorders' symptoms. This study tested the mediation effect of social anxiety in the association between childhood maltreatment and eating disorders' symptoms and whether this mediation was moderated by physical activity.
A longitudinal study was conducted among 848 students in grades 7-8 from a middle school in Changsha, China. The students completed measurements on childhood maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) at the baseline and measurements on social anxiety (The Social Anxiety Scale-Adolescents), physical activity, and eating disorders' symptoms (The Eating Attitudes Test) after six months. Mediation and moderation analyses were carried out in SPSS macro-PROCESS.
Emotional abuse was significantly related to eating disorders'symptoms, and the association was mediated by social anxiety (indirect effect: β = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.05, p<0.05). Furthermore, physical activities moderated the path of emotional abuse to social anxiety (β = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.39, p<0.01) and social anxiety to eating disorders'symptoms (β = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.26, p<0.01).
This research emphasizes the importance of social anxiety in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and eating disorders' symptoms. Additionally, these associations are weaker for adolescents with more physical activities, addressing the importance of physical activity in the prevention and management of eating disorders' symptoms.
童年期受虐会增加青少年患饮食失调症的风险。然而，关于童年期受虐与饮食失调症状之间的潜在机制，我们了解得较少。本研究检验了社交焦虑在童年期受虐与饮食失调症状之间关联中的中介作用，以及这种中介作用是否受到体育活动的调节。
对中国长沙一所中学的848名七至八年级学生进行了一项纵向研究。学生们在基线时完成了童年期受虐情况的测量（儿童创伤问卷），并在六个月后完成了社交焦虑（青少年社交焦虑量表）、体育活动和饮食失调症状（饮食态度测试）的测量。在SPSS宏程序PROCESS中进行中介和调节分析。
情感虐待与饮食失调症状显著相关，且这种关联通过社交焦虑起中介作用（间接效应：β = 0.03，95%置信区间：0.01至0.05，p<0.05）。此外，体育活动调节了情感虐待到社交焦虑的路径（β = 0.32，95%置信区间：0.25至0.39，p<0.01）以及社交焦虑到饮食失调症状的路径（β = 0.18，95%置信区间：0.10至0.26，p<0.01）。
本研究强调了社交焦虑在童年期受虐与饮食失调症状关系中的重要性。此外，对于体育活动较多的青少年，这些关联较弱，这凸显了体育活动在预防和管理饮食失调症状方面的重要性。
