Anxiety, stress, and binge eating tendencies in adolescence: a prospective approach

BACKGROUND: Recent years have witnessed an increasing prevalence of binge eating tendencies in adolescence—warranting a clearer understanding of their underlying predisposing and precipitating factors. The current study investigated whether the interaction between high levels of anxiety and stress predicted increased levels of binge eating tendencies in a prospective cohort of adolescents (N = 324). METHODS: Measurements were taken over three waves (M ages: 13.33, 14.48, 15.65) as part of the CogBIAS Longitudinal Study. Longitudinal associations between levels of anxiety and stress with binge eating tendencies were estimated using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), which calculates within-person fluctuations over time while accounting for individual trait-like stability and between-person variations. Binge eating tendencies were measured by the Cognitive Restraint, Uncontrolled Eating, and Emotional Eating styles from the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18. Two models were created for each binge eating tendencies variable: (1) a basic model with anxiety and stress as independent variables; (2) an interaction model with an additional anxiety*stress interaction term. Model fit was assessed by SEM fit indices: X(2), CFI, NFI, TLI, RMSEA, SRMR. Superior model fit was ascertained by a chi-square difference test (p < .05). RESULTS: For Cognitive Restraint, the interaction model demonstrated superior fit to the data (p < .05). The anxiety*stress interaction at Waves 1 and 2 was significantly negatively associated with Cognitive Restraint at Waves 2 (β = −0.18, p = .002) and 3 (β = −0.14, p = .002)—suggesting that anxiety and stress interacted to predict increased binge eating tendencies linked with cognitive restraint over and above their independent effects. In contrast, the interaction term between anxiety*stress did not predict levels of Uncontrolled Eating or Emotional Eating over time. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the importance of increasing awareness of the interaction between concurrently high anxiety and stress as a potential risk factor for binge eating tendencies in young people. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.