Are family meals and social eating behaviour associated with depression, anxiety, and stress in adolescents? The EHDLA study

• Published in: Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 505 - 510
• Main Authors: Victoria-Montesinos, Desirée, Jiménez-López, Estela, Mesas, Arthur Eumann, López-Bueno, Rubén, Garrido-Miguel, Miriam, Gutiérrez-Espinoza, Héctor, Smith, Lee, López-Gil, José Francisco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2023
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Eating habits; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Humans; Lifestyle; Meals - psychology; Mental health; Psychocoscial health; Teenagers; Youths; Lifestyle; Youths; Teenagers; Psychocoscial health; Eating habits; Mental health
• ISSN: 0261-5614; 1532-1983
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2023.01.020

This study examined the association between family meals and social eating behaviour with depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among Spanish adolescents. This was a cross-sectional study with data obtained from a representative sample of adolescents aged 12–17 years from Valle de Ricote, Murcia, Spain. Emotional symptomatology was evaluated with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. The frequency of family meals and social eating behaviour were self-reported. Each additional point in social eating behaviour decreased the probability of having a higher number of depressive (OR = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.75–0.92), anxiety (OR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.80–0.97) and stress (OR = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82–0.99) symptoms. Higher social eating behaviour was associated with lower probabilities of higher number of depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms.