The association between anxiety sensitivity and eating expectancies in Hispanic emerging adult college students.

Abstract

Hispanic emerging adult college students experience increased exposure to psychological distress associated with emerging adulthood and sociocultural pressures, which increases the risk for developing maladaptive eating cognitions and behaviors. Eating expectancies have been implicated as a maladaptive eating cognition associated with unhealthy eating, and there is a need to examine affective vulnerability processes that may drive such cognitions among this health-vulnerable population. One factor that has demonstrated relations to maladaptive eating expectancies is anxiety sensitivity. Therefore, the current study examined anxiety sensitivity in relation to eating expectancies among Hispanic emerging adult college students. Participants were 337 Hispanic emerging adult college students (81.9% female; M_age = 20.37, SD = 1.92; age range = 18-25) from an urban university. After controlling for age, sex, body mass index, and acculturative stress, the results indicated that greater levels of anxiety sensitivity were positively related to increased eating expectancies to alleviate boredom, lead to feeling out of control, and to help manage negative affect. Findings suggest that even after controlling for empirically relevant factors, Hispanic emerging adult college students with elevated anxiety sensitivity may be at increased risk for maladaptive eating expectancies to alleviate boredom, lead to feeling out of control, and to help manage negative affect.