Psychopathological correlates of eating behavior among Portuguese undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between eating behavior dimensions and psychopathological symptoms among Portuguese undergraduate students.

METHODS: We studied 258 participants (62.4% women) regarding eating behavior dimensions (emotional, external and binge eating, flexible and rigid control of eating behavior, and eating self-efficacy), psychopathological distress (as assessed by the Brief Symptom Inventory), and body mass index. In addition to studying bivariate associations between eating behavior dimensions and psychopathological subscales and indexes, what we believe to be a novel analytical approach, considering simultaneously the effects of the overall level of psychopathological distress and the relevance of specific symptoms on the eating behavior dimensions.

RESULTS: Emotional, external, and binge eating had positive correlations with psychopathological symptomatology, whereas eating self-efficacy was negatively associated.

CONCLUSIONS: Multivariate analysis showed that the overall level of psychopathological distress (combined with body mass index, among women) had a larger effect on eating behavior than the relevance of specific symptoms.