Violence exposure tied to eating disorders in teens across three continents
A new cross-country study links exposure to community violence with eating disorder symptoms among adolescents in Belgium, Russia, and the US—with patterns differing by gender. The findings suggest policymakers and healthcare systems need coordinated approaches to violence prevention and mental health screening, particularly for at-risk youth.
Originaltitel: Community Violence Exposure and Eating Disorder Symptoms among Belgian, Russian and US Adolescents: Cross-Country and Gender Perspectives
<p>Community violence exposure (CVE) is one of the most common adverse childhood experiences worldwide. Despite this, its potential effect on disordered eating in adolescents from different cultures is underexplored. In the present cross-sectional study, self-reported data were collected from 9751 students (Mean age = 14.27) from Belgium, Russia and the US on CVE (witnessing violence and violence victimization), eating disorder (ED) symptoms (ED thoughts with associated compensatory behaviors), and comorbid symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Increased CVE (from no exposure to witnessing to victimization) was associated with more ED symptoms, and the associations remained significant after adjusting for comorbid conditions. The associations were similar for adolescents across the three countries. No gender differences were observed in the association between CVE and ED symptoms, even though girls in general reported more ED symptoms than boys. We conclude that CVE appears to be associated with ED symptoms in three culturally different samples of adolescents.</p>