Patterns of restrained eating in Chinese adolescents' interpersonal contexts: A latent profile analysis

There is ample evidence suggesting that restrained eating behaviors are very common during adolescence. In most research, restrained eating is represented by an overall score, limiting our understanding of the latent individual heterogeneity in restrained eating behaviors. The main purpose of current study was to investigate patterns of restrained eating and explore its association with multiple interpersonal factors (family, peer and school) in a sample of 552 adolescents (46% females, aged 11-16 years) from two middle schools in Changsha, China. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed that in the best-fitting model, restrained eating formed three profiles of adolescents: low restrained eating group (57.3%), moderate restrained eating group (31.9%), and high restrained eating group (10.8%). The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that these profiles differed on multiple interpersonal factors including parental monitoring, deviant peer affiliation, and peer relationships. The current study is the first to identify patterns of restrained eating in relation to multiple interpersonal contexts, and the results may inform targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

Automated summary

This study identified three patterns of restrained eating in adolescents and found that these patterns were associated with interpersonal factors such as parental monitoring, deviant peer affiliation, and peer relationships. The results can inform targeted prevention and intervention strategies.