Frequência de comportamentos alimentares inadequados e sua relação com a insatisfação corporal em adolescentes

Association between eating disorders, suicide and depressive symptoms in undergraduate students of health-related courses

Objective:

To identify symptoms of eating disorders and potential associations with risk of suicide and depressive symptoms in undergraduate students of health-related courses.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study involving 271 students. The following instruments were used to identify symptoms of eating disorders: Eating Attitudes Test-26 and Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview were used to screen for depressive symptoms and risk of suicide, respectively. Participants answered a questionnaire aimed to collect biodemographic data for economic classification of the sample.

Results:

Symptoms of eating disorders and bulimia nervosa were detected in 7.4% and 29.1% of students, respectively. Approximately 17.3% of students had symptoms of major depression, and 13.6% were at risk of suicide to some extent; risk of suicide was thought to be low in 7.4%, moderate in 0.7% and high in 5.5% of students in this subset. The risk of eating disorder development was correlated with the risk of suicide (p<0.001).

Conclusion:

Undergraduate students at risk of developing eating disorders, or with symptoms suggestive of depression, are more prone to commit suicide.

Relação entre imagem corporal, atitudes para transtornos alimentares e estado nutricional em universitárias da área da saúde

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar a relação entre a insatisfação da imagem corporal, atitudes para transtornos alimentares e o estado nutricional em universitárias da área da saúde. Métodos Estudo descritivo, transversal e quantitativo com 225 universitárias matriculadas em oito cursos da área da saúde. Para obtenção dos dados, utilizaram-se três instrumentos autoaplicáveis: o Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), o Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) e um questionário construído pelas pesquisadoras contendo os dados autorreferidos de altura, peso atual e peso desejado, curso e idade. O estado nutricional foi estabelecido segundo o cálculo do índice de massa corporal. Para análise dos dados, aplicou-se o teste qui-quadrado de Pearson, adotando-se o nível de significância de 5%. Resultados A média de idade foi de 22,65 anos e a de IMC, de 23,05 kg/m2, estando a maioria das universitárias em eutrofia (69,8%). Quanto ao peso desejado, 74,7% gostariam de pesar menos; dessas, 64,9% eram eutróficas. Conforme o BSQ, 51,1% das universitárias tiveram algum grau de insatisfação corporal, e a prevalência de atitudes indicativas de transtornos alimentares, de acordo com o EAT-26, foi de 21,8%. Houve associação estatisticamente significativa entre: IMC e BSQ (p < 0,001); IMC e EAT-26 (p < 0,005); BSQ e EAT-26 (p < 0,001). Ao relacionar a insatisfação da imagem corporal e atitudes de risco para transtornos alimentares, percebeu-se que 87,75% das universitárias com EAT positivo também apresentaram algum grau de insatisfação corporal. Conclusão Evidenciou-se a existência de relação entre a insatisfação com a imagem corporal, atitudes de risco para transtornos alimentares e estado nutricional de universitárias da área da saúde.

[Self-esteem, body image and depression in adolescents with different nutritional conditions]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate self-esteem, body image and depression in adolescents under different nutritional conditions. The study included 418 adolescents (14-18 years old).

METHODOLOGY

Four questionnaires were administered: Characterization; Child Depression Inventory; Self-esteem Scale, and Body Image Questionnaire. The nutritional conditions were classified using the Body Mass Index (BMI).

RESULTS

Boys had a higher prevalence of overweight or obesity, a lower depression and body dissatisfaction rate, and higher self-esteem than girls (p<0.001). Depression was negatively related to self-esteem (p<0.01), which also had a negative association with body dissatisfaction (p<0.01). Even though adolescents with superior nutritional conditions were more dissatisfied (p<0.001), the BMI was related to body dissatisfaction only in girls (p<0.01). Regarding the relation between depression and body dissatisfaction, it was negative for boys (p<0.01), but positive for girls (p<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Overweight or obese adolescents have higher body dissatisfaction. Depression and self-esteem are related to body image, and not to BMI, demonstrating that the subjectivity of adolescents must be assessed. The differences identified between boys and girls for these relations must be further investigated.

[Psychometric evaluation of the Body Change Questionnaire for adolescents]

This study aimed to examine construct validity, internal consistency, and reproducibility of the Body Change Questionnaire (BCQ). A total of 439 female and male adolescents (13-22 years of age) were evaluated. Construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis and correlation between the scores of the BCQ and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and Scale Silhouettes (SS). Reliability was assessed through internal consistency and reproducibility using test-retest and intra-class correlation. The scale presented a six-factor structure that almost entirely accounted for the instrument's subscales. Correlations for the total sample between BCQ and scores of the other questionnaires ranged from 0.37 to 0.46. Internal consistency varied from 0.78 to 0.96 for each of the factors, and intra-class correlation was consistent with good reproducibility. The test-retest scores showed no statistically significant differences for the total sample or according to sex. The BCQ showed good psychometric qualities for Brazilian adolescents.