Understanding early risk factors for eating disorder symptoms in adolescence: the role of body dissatisfaction, negative emotional reactivity and self-esteem at age 10–11 years

ABSTRACT

Objective

Risk factors associated with eating disorders (EDs) have been widely studied, although previous research has been limited to largely cross-sectional data or understanding risk factors in adult populations. Little is therefore known about the role of risk factors in early adolescence for the subsequent development of ED symptoms in adolescence.

Method

The present study examined factors identified in transdiagnostic models of EDs, in a sample of 2,372 adolescents who participated in Waves 3, 4 and 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The present study examined the association between body dissatisfaction, negative emotional reactivity and self-esteem in adolescents aged 10–11, and probable ED status measured via self-report at age 16–17, while adjusting for confounders measured at age 8–9 years.

Results

Negative reactivity and self-esteem at age 10–11 years were not significantly associated with ED status at age 16–17. Body dissatisfaction was associated with a decreased likelihood of meeting probable ED status at age 16–17, however this effect was small and likely not clinically significant, with only 2% of variance in probable ED status accounted for by body dissatisfaction.

Conclusion

Findings of the study suggest that transdiagnostic models of EDs may not capture the key risk factors for EDs in early adolescence.

Key points

What is already known about this topic:

1. Transdiagnostic models of EDs describe mood intolerance, interpersonal difficulties, clinical perfectionism and low self-esteem as maintenance factors for EDs

2. The validity of these contributing factors to EDs in adolescence has been supported in research using cross-sectional designs

3. Identifying ED risk factors in early adolescence can inform ED preventative programs in efforts to limit symptom progression

What this topic adds:

1. Transdiagnostic models of EDs may be limited in informing ED risk factors in early adolescence

2. ED risk factors may be sensitive to time and changes throughout adolescence

3. Alternative factors or interaction effects may be important in understanding ED risk in adolescence

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescent
• body dissatisfaction
• disordered eating
• emotion
• reactivity
• self-esteem

Acknowledgements

This paper uses unit record data from Growing Up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) conducted by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Australian Government, DSS, or any of DSS’ contractors or partners. doi:10.26193/F2YRL5.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2023.2260488.

Author contributions

Kiu Lam Chan: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Visualisation; Alyssa Sawyer: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – reviewing and editing; Amanda Taylor: Conceptualisation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – reviewing and editing. All authors have approved the final article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Australian Data Archive (ADA) and the National Centre for Longitudinal Data (NCLD). Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for this study. Data are available through Dataverse, an online platform which facilitates access to its longitudinal datasets, with the permission of ADA and NCLD.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.