Abstract
AbstractBackgroundCross-sectional studies have shown that hyperactivity and impaired executive functioning are associated with symptoms of eating disorders in adolescence and adulthood. Whether hyperactivity and executive functions in early life can prospectively predict the emergence of eating disorder symptoms in adolescence remains unknown. The present study relies on a longitudinal design to investigate how hyperactivity at age 3, eating behaviours at age 3.5 and cognition at ages 3–6 were associated with the development of eating-disorder symptoms from 12 to 20 years old.MethodsUsing archival data collected since 1997 from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development cohort (N = 2, 223), we used Latent Curve Models to analyse predictors of youth’s trajectories of eating-disorder symptoms at four timepoints.ResultsA quadratic (curvilinear) trajectory of eating-disorder symptoms was found to be most representative of the data. Higher hyperactivity at age 3 was associated with higher levels of eating-disorder symptoms at age 12, and this association was partially mediated by higher levels of overeating and cognitive inflexibility in childhood. Cognitive inflexibility in childhood also mediated the association between hyperactivity at age 3 and increases in eating-disorder symptoms during adolescence. Furthermore, working memory was indirectly related to eating-disorder symptoms via the mediational role of cognitive flexibility.ConclusionsHyperactivity, overeating, cognitive inflexibility, and working memory early in life might precede the onset of eating-disorder symptoms in adolescence. Early behavioural and cognitive screening may help to identify children who are most at risk for eating disorders. This, in turn, could guide preventive interventions.
Funder
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Quebec Statistics Institute
Quebec Government's Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Family Affairs
Fondation Lucie et Andre Chagnon
Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauvé en Santé et en Sécurité du Travail
Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Behavioral Neuroscience,Psychiatry and Mental health,Nutrition and Dietetics