Pregnancy through the Looking-Glass: correlates of disordered eating attitudes among a sample of Lebanese pregnant women

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Sarah Gerges¹  Souheil Hallit²  Sahar Obeid³ 

[1] School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon;School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon;Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Jal Eddib, Lebanon;Applied Science Research Center, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan;Social and Education Sciences Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Jbeil, Lebanon;

关键词: Eating disorders;    Pregorexia;    Mental health;    Mental disorders;    Body image;    Pregnancy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-023-05205-w

 received in 2023-04-21, accepted in 2023-09-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionDespite the risks of gestational disordered eating for both the mother and fetus, research into this subject is scarce within developing countries, particularly in Lebanon. Our study’s objective was to delve into the predictors of disordered eating attitudes during pregnancy among a sample of Lebanese pregnant women while assessing the potential mediating effect of body dissatisfaction between psychosocial factors and disordered eating attitudes in pregnancy.MethodsWe framed a cross-sectional study, built on self-report measures. Pregnant women of 18 years old and above were recruited from all the Lebanese governorates through an online survey (N = 433).ResultsThe results showed that higher pregnancy-specific hassles (Beta = 0.19), media and pregnant celebrities’ influence (Beta = 0.22), and body dissatisfaction (Beta = 0.17) were significantly associated with increased disordered eating attitudes in pregnancy; whereas higher perceived social support (Beta = -0.03), lower socio-economic status (Beta = -0.84), and multigravidity (Beta = -0.96) were significantly associated with less disordered eating attitudes during pregnancy. Body dissatisfaction mediated the association between pregnancy-specific hassles and disordered eating attitudes, and between social appearance concerns and disordered eating attitudes.ConclusionOur study highlighted that antenatal care, particularly in Lebanon, should no longer be limited to biological monitoring but rather seek to identify possible eating disorders and mental health threats. Further investigations following longitudinal designs should pursue identifying additional correlates of gestational disordered eating in the clinical context, in furtherance of consolidating screening programs and building targeted treatment strategies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

Fig. 1