Dataset Information

Longitudinal Associations Among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Disordered Eating, and Weight Gain in Military Men and Women.

ABSTRACT: Obesity is a major health problem in the United States and a growing concern among members of the military. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with overweight and obesity and may increase the risk of those conditions among military service members. Disordered eating behaviors have also been associated with PTSD and weight gain. However, eating disorders remain understudied in military samples. We investigated longitudinal associations among PTSD, disordered eating, and weight gain in the Millennium Cohort Study, which includes a nationally representative sample of male (n = 27,741) and female (n = 6,196) service members. PTSD at baseline (time 1; 2001-2003) was associated with disordered eating behaviors at time 2 (2004-2006), as well as weight change from time 2 to time 3 (2007-2008). Structural equation modeling results revealed that the association between PTSD and weight change from time 2 to time 3 was mediated by disordered eating symptoms. The association between PTSD and weight gain resulting from compensatory behaviors (vomiting, laxative use, fasting, overexercise) was significant for white participants only and for men but not women. PTSD was both directly and indirectly (through disordered eating) associated with weight change. These results highlight potentially important demographic differences in these associations and emphasize the need for further investigation of eating disorders in military service members.

SUBMITTER: Mitchell KS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4929239 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Longitudinal Associations Among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Disordered Eating, and Weight Gain in Military Men and Women.

Mitchell K S KS Porter B B Boyko E J EJ Field A E AE

American journal of epidemiology 20160609 1

Obesity is a major health problem in the United States and a growing concern among members of the military. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with overweight and obesity and may increase the risk of those conditions among military service members. Disordered eating behaviors have also been associated with PTSD and weight gain. However, eating disorders remain understudied in military samples. We investigated longitudinal associations among PTSD, disordered eating, and weig ...[more]

PMID: 27283146

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Project description:PurposeEvidence suggests that difficulties identifying and describing one's feelings, core components of alexithymia, are associated with attitudinal and behavioral symptoms of disordered eating; depressive symptoms also may underlie these associations. Specifically, research indicates that alexithymia is positively related to depressive symptoms, which in turn may promote both disordered-eating attitudes and certain disinhibited-eating behaviors (e.g., emotional eating). Findings also suggest that military-dependent youth with high weight may exhibit elevated depressive symptoms and disordered eating. As such, understanding associations among alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating is particularly relevant for this vulnerable population.MethodsWe examined 149 adolescent military dependents (14.4 ± 1.6y; 55.0% female; 20.0% non-Hispanic Black; BMIz: 1.9 ± 0.4) at high risk for binge-eating disorder and obesity in adulthood. Participants completed questionnaires assessing two components of alexithymia (difficulty identifying feelings [DIF] and difficulty describing feelings [DDF]), depressive symptoms, emotional eating, and trait anxiety; disordered-eating attitudes were assessed via semi-structured interview.ResultsA series of regression-based models examined indirect relationships of DIF and DDF with disordered-eating attitudes and emotional eating through depressive symptoms. Bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals revealed a significant indirect path from each of the alexithymia components to disordered-eating attitudes via depressive symptoms; indirect paths to emotional eating were non-significant.ConclusionResults support the salience of depressive symptoms in the relationship between alexithymia and disordered-eating attitudes. Future research should utilize prospective designs and explore direct and indirect associations of alexithymia with other disordered-eating behaviors.Level of evidenceLevel III, evidence obtained from a well-designed cohort study.

Dataset Information

Longitudinal Associations Among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Disordered Eating, and Weight Gain in Military Men and Women.

Publications

Longitudinal Associations Among Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Disordered Eating, and Weight Gain in Military Men and Women.

Similar Datasets

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