title: Overeating and binge eating in emerging adulthood: 10-year stability and risk factors.
abstract: Overeating (eating an unusually large amount of food) and binge eating (overeating with loss of control [LOC]) predict adverse health consequences in adolescence. We aimed to characterize the stability of and risk factors for these distinct but interrelated constructs during critical developmental transitions. We used a population-based sample (n = 1,902) that completed surveys at 5-year intervals spanning adolescence and young adulthood. The trajectories of no overeating, overeating, binge eating, and binge eating disorder (BED; recurrent binge eating with associated distress) were characterized using cross-tabulations. Body mass index, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and body satisfaction were examined as risk factors for no overeating, overeating, and binge eating (including BED) 5-years later using multinomial logistic regression. We found that all overeating categories tended to remit to no overeating at 5-year follow-up. Although overeating had the lowest remittance rates at each time-point, binge eating and BED showed higher rates of persistence or worsening of symptoms during the transition from late adolescence/early young adulthood to early/middle young adulthood. Overeating and binge eating had similar risk factors, although for females, depressive symptoms, body satisfaction, and self-esteem in late adolescence/early young adulthood differentially predicted binge eating versus overeating in early/middle young adulthood (ps < .05). While overeating with or without LOC tends to remit over time, problematic eating persists for a subset of individuals. Greater psychosocial problems in late adolescence/early young adulthood predicted greater odds of binge eating relative to overeating in early/middle young adulthood among females, indicating that poorer psychosocial functioning in this developmental stage portends more severe eating-related psychopathology later in life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, The University of Chicago.
authors.forename: Andrea B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Goldschmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Melanie M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Katie A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Loth
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumark-Sztainer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D002032:Bulimia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006963:Hyperphagia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult