Binge eating is associated with trait anxiety in Korean adolescent girls: a cross sectional study

• Published in: BMC women's health Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 8
• Main Authors: Jung, Jin-Yi, Kim, Kye-Hyun, Woo, Hee-Yeon, Shin, Dong-Won, Shin, Young-Chul, Oh, Kang-Seob, Shin, Eun-Hee, Lim, Se-Won
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 21.01.2017; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent depression; Adolescents; Analysis; Anxiety; Anxiety - complications; Anxiety - psychology; Binge eating disorder; Body Mass Index; Bulimia - etiology; Bulimia - psychology; Childhood stress (Psychology); Cross-Sectional Studies; Eating behavior; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Mental depression; Psychological aspects; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Regression analysis; Schools; Self Report; Seoul; Stress, Psychological - complications; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenage girls; Womens health; South Korea; Depression; Anxiety; Binge eating; Stress; Adolescent
• ISSN: 1472-6874; 1472-6874
• DOI: 10.1186/s12905-017-0364-4

Binge eating occurs more frequently in women than in men, and is known to be related to psychological factors such as stress, depression, and anxiety. This study examined the relationship between binge eating and depression, trait anxiety, and perceived stress in Korean adolescents. Four hundred girls (aged 17-18 years) from two high schools located in Seoul completed self-report questionnaires. In total, 327 participants returned reliable responses, and were included in the final study. Binge eating was measured using the Bulimic Inventory Test Edinburgh. The questionnaire also included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Trait Anxiety (TA) of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory (ASI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The binge-eating group had higher BMI than the control group. The binge-eating group showed higher scores than control on the PSS, BDI, ASI, and TA. The TA was most highly correlated with binge eating. From logistic regression analysis, TA was revealed to be the only factor that raised the risk of binge eating, whereas PSS, BDI, and ASI showed no statistical significance. Although binge eating was correlated with perceived stress, depression, and trait anxiety, when their influences were controlled, only binge eating appeared to be associated with trait anxiety.