Appetitive traits and their associations with social anxiety and depression in school-aged children: A cross-sectional study

IF 3.8 2区医学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Appetite Pub Date : 2025-08-27 DOI:10.1016/j.appet.2025.108276

Youxin Wang , Danqi Qiu , Pingping Zhang , Fangjing Shen , Miao Xu , Hui Wang , Li Li

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Children's appetitive traits may offer critical insights into psychological issues such as anxiety and depression, yet their specific associations with these mental health outcomes remain poorly defined. This study aims to elucidate the relationships between appetite and symptoms of anxiety and depression in school-aged children.

Methods

This study included 1259 Chinese children aged 8–10 at baseline (September 2022) and 1558 children at the 9-month follow-up (June 2023), with follow-up data used in sensitivity analyses to test the robustness and directionality of the cross-sectional associations. Appetitive traits were evaluated via the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire, which was completed by their guardians. Children self-reported their levels of social anxiety and depression via the Social Anxiety Scale for Children and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale questionnaires. Linear mixed models were used to examine the associations between appetitive traits and depression and social anxiety.

Results

Slowness in eating was significantly associated with higher social anxiety scores (β = 0.10, P = 0.043) and with greater odds of anxiety (OR = 1.125 [1.029, 1.230], P = 0.010). Children with higher depression scores exhibited greater satiety responsiveness (β = 0.22, P = 0.016), higher food responsiveness (β = 0.14, P = 0.030) and greater slowness in eating (β = 0.24, P = 0.022), all of which were associated with greater odds of depression: satiety responsiveness (OR = 1.104 [1.033, 1.180], P = 0.003), food responsiveness (OR = 1.016 [1.012, 1.113], P = 0.015), and slowness in eating (OR = 1.084 [1.004, 1.170], P = 0.038). The 9-month follow-up data affirmed the robustness of these associations and their potential causal links. Gender-stratified analyses revealed stronger associations in females.

Conclusions

This study revealed significant associations between children's appetitive traits and their mental health. These findings suggest that adjusting or optimizing specific appetitive traits may play important roles in reducing the risk of anxiety and depression among children.

查看原文本刊更多论文

学龄儿童食欲特征及其与社交焦虑和抑郁的关系：一项横断面研究。

背景：儿童的食欲特征可能为焦虑和抑郁等心理问题提供重要的见解，但它们与这些心理健康结果的具体联系仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨学龄期儿童食欲与焦虑、抑郁症状的关系。方法：本研究纳入1259名8 ~ 10岁的中国儿童（基线时间为2022年9月）和1558名儿童（9个月随访时间为2023年6月），随访数据用于敏感性分析，以检验横断面关联的稳健性和方向性。食欲特征通过儿童饮食行为问卷进行评估，该问卷由其监护人完成。儿童通过儿童社交焦虑量表和流行病学研究中心抑郁量表问卷自我报告他们的社交焦虑和抑郁水平。线性混合模型用于检验食欲特征与抑郁和社交焦虑之间的关系。结果：进食缓慢与较高的社交焦虑得分（β=0.10， P=0.043）和较高的焦虑几率（OR=1.125 [1.029, 1.230]， P=0.010）显著相关。抑郁得分高的儿童表现出更高的饱腹反应（β=0.22， P=0.016）、更高的食物反应（β=0.14， P=0.030）和更大的进食速度（β=0.24， P=0.022），所有这些都与更高的抑郁几率相关：饱腹反应（OR=1.104 [1.033, 1.180]， P=0.003）、食物反应（OR=1.016 [1.012, 1.113]， P=0.015）和进食速度慢（OR=1.084 [1.004, 1.170]， P=0.038）。9个月的随访数据证实了这些关联的稳健性及其潜在的因果关系。性别分层分析显示，女性的相关性更强。结论：本研究揭示了儿童食欲特征与心理健康之间的显著关联。这些发现表明，调整或优化特定的食欲特征可能在降低儿童焦虑和抑郁风险方面发挥重要作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Appetite 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

11.10%

发文量

566

审稿时长

13.4 weeks

期刊介绍： Appetite is an international research journal specializing in cultural, social, psychological, sensory and physiological influences on the selection and intake of foods and drinks. It covers normal and disordered eating and drinking and welcomes studies of both human and non-human animal behaviour toward food. Appetite publishes research reports, reviews and commentaries. Thematic special issues appear regularly. From time to time the journal carries abstracts from professional meetings. Submissions to Appetite are expected to be based primarily on observations directly related to the selection and intake of foods and drinks; papers that are primarily focused on topics such as nutrition or obesity will not be considered unless they specifically make a novel scientific contribution to the understanding of appetite in line with the journal's aims and scope.