Wang Peiyi, Chen Chuansheng, Yim Ilona S
Department of Psychological Science, University of California, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA.
Department of Psychological Science, University of California, 4568 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA.
Appetite. 2025 Feb 1;206:107844. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107844. Epub 2024 Dec 30.
The increasing cultural diversity in the United States means more college students identify with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds and may experience acculturative stress. Emerging research has found an association between acculturative stress and maladaptive eating. However, these studies rarely consider other theoretical factors or confounders, and individual differences. Thus, the unique contribution of acculturative stress and the generalizability of previous findings remain unclear.
This cross-sectional study investigated the role of acculturative stress and self-construal (i.e., how individuals define themselves in relation to others in social environments) in maladaptive eating among female college students.
Participants were 446 female young adults (M = 20.38, SD = 1.75; M = 23.42, SD = 4.62) who completed online questionnaires.
Structural equation modeling results showed that acculturative stress was related to higher disinhibited eating even when accounting for traditional theoretical risk factors (i.e., body dissatisfaction, perceived sociocultural pressures on body image, and general stress) and potential confounders (i.e., age, BMI, SES, ethnic backgrounds, and birthplace). Furthermore, independent self-construal (i.e., when individuals see themselves as autonomous, prioritizing personal goals and uniqueness over social relationships) moderated this association. When independent self-construal was higher, the magnitude of the regression coefficient between acculturative stress and disinhibited eating was smaller.
Given the increasing diversity within U.S. higher education, eating behavior theories should consider integrating acculturative stress to improve inclusiveness. College psychological services should tailor prevention and treatment strategies for maladaptive eating to address acculturative stress, while also promoting an environment that supports healthy, independent self-construal.
美国文化多样性的增加意味着越来越多的大学生认同种族和少数族裔背景，可能会经历文化适应压力。新兴研究发现文化适应压力与不良饮食之间存在关联。然而，这些研究很少考虑其他理论因素、混杂因素以及个体差异。因此，文化适应压力的独特作用以及先前研究结果的普遍性仍不明确。
本横断面研究调查了文化适应压力和自我建构（即个体在社会环境中如何根据与他人的关系来定义自己）在女大学生不良饮食中的作用。
参与者为446名年轻成年女性（M = 20.38，标准差 = 1.75；M = 23.42，标准差 = 4.62），她们完成了在线问卷。
结构方程模型结果表明，即使考虑传统理论风险因素（即身体不满意、感知到的社会文化对身体形象的压力以及一般压力）和潜在混杂因素（即年龄、体重指数、社会经济地位、种族背景和出生地），文化适应压力仍与更高的失抑制性饮食有关。此外，独立自我建构（即个体将自己视为自主的，将个人目标和独特性置于社会关系之上）调节了这种关联。当独立自我建构较高时，文化适应压力与失抑制性饮食之间的回归系数幅度较小。
鉴于美国高等教育中多样性的增加，饮食行为理论应考虑纳入文化适应压力以提高包容性。大学心理服务应针对不良饮食制定预防和治疗策略，以应对文化适应压力，同时营造一个支持健康、独立自我建构的环境。
