skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: The role of discrimination and adverse childhood experiences in disordered eating
Abstract Background In clinical research, there has been a call to move beyond individual psychosocial factors towards identifying cultural and social factors that inform mental health. Similar calls have been made in the eating disorders (ED) field underscoring the need to understand larger sociocultural influences on EDs. Discrimination is a social stressor that may influence mental health in similar ways to traumatic or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Given the high rates of EDs and discrimination among marginalized groups, it is vital to understand the role of discrimination and ACEs as predictors of ED symptoms in these populations. The aim of this study is to examine how perceived discrimination predicts ED pathology when statistically adjusting for gender, race, and ACEs. Methods The diverse study sample consisted of 331 undergraduate students from a longitudinal cohort study (ages 18–24; 66% female; 35% White/non-Hispanic). Participants completed measures of everyday discrimination, ACEs, and ED pathology. Results Following adjustment for multiple statistical comparisons, the frequency of daily discrimination predicted all ED symptoms above and beyond history of ACEs. In follow-up analyses, number of reasons for discrimination predicted cognitive restraint and purging. Differences in ED symptomatology were found based on the reason for discrimination, gender, and race. Specifically, those who experienced weight discrimination endorsed higher scores on all ED symptoms, and those experiencing gender discrimination endorsed higher body dissatisfaction, cognitive restraint, and restriction. People of color endorsed higher restriction, while female participants endorsed higher scores on all ED symptom with the exception of cognitive restraint. Conclusion Discrimination is a salient risk factor for ED symptoms even when accounting for individuals’ history of ACEs. Future research should utilize an intersectional approach to examine how perceived discrimination affects ED pathology over time. (Word count: 234).  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1922598
PAR ID:
10455012
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Eating Disorders
Volume:
11
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2050-2974
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; (, ASEE annual conference exposition)
    Distressed engineering students are significantly less likely to seek professional help for a mental health concern when compared to their non-engineering peers. This represents a treatment gap, making engineering students at risk for escalation of symptoms to more significant and potentially chronic mental illness. To better understand the causes of this treatment gap, this study was designed to look at first-year engineering students’ perceptions of seeking help for a mental health concern. Self-report survey data was collected from 440 first-year engineering students during the first month of the Fall 2021 semester, including psychometrically sound measures of mental health help-seeking attitudes, perceived norms, personal agency, and intention developed in accordance with the Integrated Behavioral Model. Results show 12% of students self-report symptoms of moderate or higher depression and 14% moderate or higher anxiety. While these statistics are lower than the national averages for college students, breakdowns by gender showed that female students showed a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression compared to the corresponding national average. In general, students had positive attitudes, control, and self-efficacy related to seeking help for a mental health concern. Mean scores for help-seeking intention and perceived norms were lower, with 50% of distressed students indicating low intention to seek professional help if in distress. Results from this study provide insight into the key mental health help-seeking perceptions that could influence help-seeking intention in first-year engineering students. This could aid in identifying targets for interventions aimed at improving help-seeking within this student population. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; (, Pediatrics)
    OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fueled xenophobia against Chinese Americans. We examined the rates of 6 types of COVID-19 racism and racial discrimination experienced by Chinese American parents and youth and the associations with their mental health. METHODS: We recruited a population-based sample of Chinese American families to participate in this self-reported survey study conducted from March 14, 2020, to May 31, 2020. Eligible parent participants identified as ethnically/racially Chinese, lived in the United States, and had a 4- to 18-year-old child; their eligible children were 10 to 18 years old. RESULTS: The sample included 543 Chinese American parents (mean [SD] age, 43.44 [6.47] years; 425 mothers [78.3%]), and their children (N = 230; mean [SD] age, 13.83 [2.53] years; 111 girls [48.3%]). Nearly half of parents and youth reported being directly targeted by COVID-19 racial discrimination online (parents: 172 [31.7%]; youth: 105 [45.7%]) and/or in person (parents: 276 [50.9%]; youth: 115 [50.2%]). A total of 417 (76.8%) parents and 176 (76.5%) youth reported at least 1 incident of COVID-19 vicarious racial discrimination online and/or in person (parents: 481 [88.5%]; youth: 211 [91.9%]). A total of 267 (49.1%) parents and 164 (71.1%) youth perceived health-related Sinophobia in America, and 274 (50.4%) parents and 129 (56.0%) youth perceived media-perpetuated Sinophobia. Higher levels of parent- and youth-perceived racism and racial discrimination were associated with their poorer mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Health care professionals must attend to the racism-related experiences and mental health needs of Chinese Americans parents and their children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic via education and making appropriate mental health referrals. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, International Journal of Behavioral Development)
    Theory and empirical evidence indicate that ethnic-racial discrimination serves as a risk factor for adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment, whereas ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development promotes positive youth adjustment and can mitigate the negative outcomes of discrimination-related risk. In Colombia, the legacies of an ethnic-racial hierarchy, mestizaje ideology (i.e., the assumption that everyone is racially mixed), and contemporary multiculturalism education reforms create a unique context for understanding adolescents’ experiences of ethnic-racial discrimination, ERI development, and their implications for psychosocial adjustment. In this study of Colombian adolescents (N = 462; Mage = 15.90 years; 47.3% female), almost 40% of participants reported experiencing ethnic-racial-based discrimination. Experiencing more frequent ethnic-racial discrimination was associated with lower self-esteem and higher depressive symptoms, whereas higher ERI resolution (i.e., gaining sense of clarity about ethnic-racial group membership) and affirmation (i.e., feeling positively about ethnic-racial group membership) were associated with higher self-esteem and lower depressive symptoms. ERI exploration (i.e., learning history and gaining knowledge about ethnic-racial group membership) was also associated with higher self-esteem and moderated the association between discrimination and depressive symptoms, such that this association was stronger at higher compared to lower levels of ERI exploration. Findings provide novel evidence for ethnic-racial-related risk and resilience processes among Colombian youth. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Journal of Research on Adolescence)
    This study aimed to examine changes in depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in a sample of 1,339 adolescents (9–18 years old, 59% female) from three countries. We also examined if age, race/ethnicity, disease burden, or strictness of government restrictions moderated change in symptoms. Data from 12 longitudinal studies (10 U.S., 1 Netherlands, 1 Peru) were combined. Linear mixed effect models showed that depression, but not anxiety, symptoms increased significantly (median increase = 28%). The most negative mental health impacts were reported by multiracial adolescents and those under ‘lockdown’ restrictions. Policy makers need to consider these impacts by investing in ways to support adolescents’ mental health during the pandemic. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, American Society for Engineering Education)
    National data indicates that engineering students are less likely than students in other academic disciplines to seek professional help for their mental health distress. Without professional intervention, mental health symptoms can worsen and become more challenging to treat. Therefore, this study uses a quantitative approach to investigate the beliefs that first-year engineering students hold about seeking mental health treatment and the influence of these beliefs on their intention to seek professional help. This study addresses the following research questions: 1) Which factors are most strongly associated with first-year engineering students’ intention to seek mental health treatment? 2) What beliefs about the outcomes of professional mental healthcare are most predictive of students’ intention to seek treatment? This study used a self-report survey instrument that employed the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) as an empirically supported theoretical framework to identify the beliefs that most accurately predict behavior. In December 2021, a survey was conducted in the first-year engineering program at a large public university with a predominantly White population (n = 452). The self-report survey instrument included measures of mental health help-seeking intention, attitude, perceived norm, personal agency, and outcome beliefs guided by the IBM. Respondents exhibited high scores on scales measuring their attitude towards seeking help, perceived control, and self-efficacy. This suggests that, on average, first-year engineering students had positive perceptions of their seeking help, felt in control of their decisions to seek help, and were confident in their ability to seek help. Students had lower scores for perceived norms, meaning they were less likely to believe that seeking help was supported by those who are important to them. Additionally, less than half of the students indicated they would intend to seek help if they experienced mental health distress. Students’ perception that others would expect them to seek help (i.e., their perceived norm injunctive) was the strongest predictor of intention to seek help, followed by their attitude toward seeking help. The specific outcome beliefs that were negatively correlated with intention to seek help were that seeking help would: 1) go against the expectations of the engineering community, 2) be a sign of weakness or an admission of defeat, and 3) result in poor treatment or discrimination from the mental health professional. Conversely, the outcome beliefs most positively correlated with intention were that seeking help would: 1) help me feel supported, 2) help me improve my coping skills, 3) make me feel better, 4) help me find a solution to my problem, and 5) help me gain a better understanding of my mental health concern. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the beliefs of first-year engineering students towards seeking professional treatment for mental health concerns. These findings will inform the development of targeted interventions to improve help-seeking for mental health. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email