title: Psychological distress as a mediator in the relationships between biopsychosocial factors and disordered eating among Malaysian university students.
abstract: The mechanism linking biopsychosocial factors to disordered eating among university students is not well understood especially among Malaysians. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of psychological distress in the relationships between biopsychosocial factors and disordered eating among Malaysian university students. A self-administered questionnaire measured self-esteem, body image, social pressures to be thin, weight-related teasing, psychological distress, and disordered eating in 584 university students (59.4% females and 40.6% males). Body weight and height were measured. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that the partial mediation model provided good fit to the data. Specifically, the relationships between self-esteem and weight-related teasing with disordered eating were mediated by psychological distress. In contrast, only direct relationships between body weight status, body image, and social pressures to be thin with disordered eating were found and were not mediated by psychological distress. Furthermore, multigroup analyses indicated that the model was equivalent for both genders but not for ethnic groups. There was a negative relationship between body weight status and psychological distress for Chinese students, whereas this was not the case among Malay students. Intervention and prevention programs on psychological distress may be beneficial in reducing disordered eating among Malaysian university students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wan Ying
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.forename: Mohd Taib
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mohd Nasir
authors.forename: Mohd Shariff
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zalilah
authors.forename: Abu Saad
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hazizi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D005006:Ethnicity; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult