Exploring relationships over time between psychological distress, perceived stress, life events and immature defense style on disordered eating pathology

Objectives This study aimed to investigate associations between eating disorder mental health literacy (EDMHL), defense style, eating disorder (ED) symptom severity, psychological distress and mental-health-related quality of life (MHRQoL) and the likelihood of formal and informal healthcare use (HCU) across multiple time points. Methods A community sample of 445 young women with ED symptoms were followed over 7 years. Questionnaires were distributed via email and postal mail across multiple time points; this study includes data from years 2 (baseline in this study), 4 and 9. The inclusion criteria was provision of HCU data at year 2. Results ED symptom severity at baseline was significantly associated with greater HCU two and seven years later. Accurate identification of an ED by participants (i.e. EDMHL) at baseline was associated with greater HCU seven years later. Defense style, psychological distress, MHRQoL and other aspects of EDMHL were not significantly associated with HCU over time. Conclusions Individuals with more severe ED symptoms, and with greater EDMHL, may be more likely to seek help over time. However, individuals with EDs may not seek help directly for poorer MHRQoL and higher levels of psychological distress. This reinforces the importance of ED screening, particularly in primary care settings.

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Associations Between Defence-Style, Eating Disorder Symptoms, and Quality of Life in Community Sample of Women: A Longitudinal Exploratory Study

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671652 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Phillip Aouad ◽

Phillipa Hay ◽

Nasim Foroughi ◽

Suzanne M. Cosh ◽

Haider Mannan

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Community Sample ◽

Extended Period ◽

Eating Pathology ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Over Time

Background and Aim: Eating Disorders (EDs) impact an estimated 15% of the global population and are linked to maladaptive defence-styles (coping strategies) and poorer mental health outcomes. Defence-styles have been grouped into immature, neurotic, and mature behaviours. Studies have yet to examine all three defence-styles in ED symptomatic individuals over an extended period of time. The current study aimed to investigate using converse analysis the relationships between defence-style and ED outcomes over a 5-years period.Methods: Participants (n = 216, mean age 33 years) were recruited through the Women's Eating and Health Literacy study, with the current study examining a 5-years period of two waves (year-4 and year-9). The current study tested associations over time between eating pathology (EDE-Q), psychological distress (K10), mental and physical health related quality of life (M/PHRQoL, SF-12), and defence-style (DSQ-40).Results: Mature, immature and neurotic defence-styles did not significantly change over 5 years. Over the same period, only PHRQoL significantly predicted mature defence-styles having positive effect. Both MHRQoL and PHRQoL significantly predicted immature defence-styles having positive and negative effects, respectively. Psychological distress, PHRQoL and weight concern significantly predicted neurotic defence-styles having positive effects except for psychological distress. PHRQoL, MHRQoL, restraint and eating concern significantly predicted overall eating pathology having positive effects except for PHRQoL and MHRQoL. Conversely, among the defence-style variables, over 5 years, both immature and neurotic defence-styles significantly predicted psychological distress having positive effects, immature and mature defence-styles significantly predicted MHRQoL having negative and positive effects, respectively, while only immature defence-styles significantly predicted overall eating pathology having positive effect.Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that immaturity and neuroticism but not maturity were the defence-style variables predicting psychological distress over a 5-years period while conversely psychological distress predicted only neurotic defence styles. The findings of the current study may suggest that without intervention, mature, immature and neurotic defence-styles may largely remain immutable to significant shifts over time. Limitations in the current study included limited demographic representation. The current study is anticipated to generate considerations into treatments that could strengthen defence-styles in individuals with increased eating pathology.

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Which Event Matters: Exploring the Relationship between Life Events, Socioeconomic Status and Psychological Distress in Mothers of Infants

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2012860 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Annemarie Nicol

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Life Events ◽

The Relationship

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Experienced Adversity in Life Is Associated With Polarized and Affirmed Political Attitudes

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550616675668 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 652-659 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daniel Randles ◽

Steven J. Heine ◽

Michael Poulin ◽

Roxane Cohen Silver

Keyword(s):

Life Events ◽

Positive Relationship ◽

Political Attitudes ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

National Sample ◽

Adverse Life Events ◽

Over Time

Many studies find that when made to feel uncertain, participants respond by affirming importantly held beliefs. However, while theories argue that these effects should persist over time for highly disruptive experiences, almost no research has been performed outside the lab. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a national sample of U.S. adults ( N = 1,613) who were followed longitudinally for 3 years. Participants reported lifetime and recent adversities experienced annually, as well as their opinions on a number of questions related to intergroup hostility and aggression toward out-groups, similar to those used in many lab studies of uncertainty. We anticipated that those who had experienced adversity would show more extreme support for their position. There was a positive relationship between adversity and the tendency to strongly affirm and polarize their positions. Results suggest that adverse life events may lead to long-lasting changes in one’s tendency to polarize one’s political attitudes.

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Emotions mediate the relationship between autistic traits and disordered eating: A new autistic-emotional model for eating pathology

Psychiatry Research ◽

10.1016/j.psychres.2016.08.021 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 245 ◽

pp. 119-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Salma Mansour ◽

Vanja Rozenblat ◽

Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz ◽

Chiara Paganini ◽

Janet Treasure ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Disordered Eating ◽

Autistic Traits ◽

Eating Pathology ◽

Emotional Model ◽

The Relationship

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Comparability and Short-Term Stability of Techniques to Assess Extension of Thinking about One's Personal Future

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1983.56.2.559 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 559-564 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William Rakowski ◽

Clifton E. Barber ◽

Wayne C. Seelbach

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Life Events ◽

Short Term ◽

Life Event ◽

Term Stability ◽

The Future ◽

Changes Over Time ◽

Over Time

Three techniques for assessing extension of one's personal future (line-marking, open-ended report, life-events) were compared in a sample of 74 respondents. Two points of data collection were employed to examine short-term stability. At both administrations, correlations among indices suggested that techniques were only moderately comparable. Short-term stabilities were variable; correlations ranged from .42 to .79. Across subgroups of the sample, the direct, open-ended report of extension showed the greatest stability, while life-event extension showed the least. Apparently, extension of thinking about the future should be assessed by more than one technique to investigate potential relationships with other variables or changes over time in perspective about the future.

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Increases in Risky Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic Assessed via Longitudinal Cohort Design: Associations With Racial Tensions, Financial Distress, Psychological Distress and Virus-Related Fears

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/alcalc/agab019 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

William V Lechner ◽

Natasha K Sidhu ◽

Jackson T Jin ◽

Ahmad A Kittaneh ◽

Kimberly R Laurene ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

High Risk ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Financial Distress ◽

Daily Life ◽

Drinking Patterns ◽

Risky Drinking ◽

Factors Associated ◽

High Risk Drinking ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has created disruptions to daily life resulting in wide-spread unemployment and psychological distress. Recent studies have reported high rates of alcohol use during this time; however, longitudinal data remain scarce and factors associated with increases in high-risk drinking observed over time are unknown. Aims The current study examined changes in high-risk drinking patterns across four 7-day observation periods, prior to and following a university wide campus closure. Additionally, factors associated with changes in alcohol use patterns were examined including financial distress, psychological distress, impact of racial tensions and virus-related fears. Method Students (N = 1001) in the Midwestern USA completed repeated assessments between March and June 2020. Each survey included a timeline follow-back measure of alcohol use. Pandemic-related distress spanning several factors was assessed at the final follow-up. Results Risky drinking patterns increased significantly over time. Overall, psychological distress and impact of racial tensions were associated with higher rates of risky drinking, whereas COVID-19-related fears were associated with lower rates. However, only financial-related distress was associated with an increase in risky drinking patterns over time. Conclusions Increased risky drinking patterns observed in the current study may signal problems that are likely to persist even after the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on daily life ends. Individuals experiencing financial distress may represent a particularly high-risk group. Interventions targeting the cross-section of job loss, financial stress and problematic alcohol use will be important to identify.

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