Female students with disrupted social networks more likely to binge
An article by Various Sources
Posted October 18, 2007 
According to a study published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, first-year female students living away from home are at a greater risk of demonstrating symptoms of binge eating.
Dr Erin Barker, professor of psychology at Beloit College in Winconsin, completed the study while earning her PhD at the University of Alberta. Barker found that first-year students that demonstrated an inability to adjust to their new social environment were more susceptible to consuming unusually large amounts of food to, the point that they would feel the need to hide such eating habits from others.
“Students who weren’t making new connections for themselves in university were at a greater risk of developing the binge eating disorder,” she said. “If you are moving away from home and are having trouble fitting into your new social world, all these stresses could combine and contribute to these behaviours.”
The study was a subsection of a larger, ongoing study examining whether or not the transition to university affected health behaviours. At the U of A, 101 female participants in their first year of postsecondary education completed an online checklist daily for 14 days to determine whether or not they demonstrated symptoms of binge eating. From there, the researchers examined the variables related to the symptoms associated with the
disorder.
“What we found was that the academic variables weren’t related to binge eating symptoms. In the study, we included three academic variables: GPA for that semester, the participant’s subjective perception of their adjustment academically, and number of class hours. None of those variables were associated with binge eating symptoms,” Barker explained.
Instead, she said the disruption of social networks and an inability to form new connections were the leading factors linked to binge eating. Such occurrences were compounded by a move away from parents’ homes, as well as body dissatisfaction.
Dr Agatha Beschell, a registered psychologist at the University Health Centre Student Counselling Services, explained that binge eating tends to occur in such cases to alleviate stress associated with such a transition—usually after a period of food deprivation.
“It’s a coping mechanism to deal with emotions; if someone is going through a stressful time or experiencing difficult emotions, they may demonstrate ‘emotional eating’ in this context. I think we can say that we’ve all done it. But when it becomes a pattern and gets out of control, then it is identified as binge eating,” Beschell said.
Barker added that emotional disorders such as depression are also associated with frequent binge eating, as individuals begin to associate negative feelings with such behaviour.
However, Beschell stressed that the purpose of the study wasn’t to diagnose eating disorders, but to identify students with symptoms of binge eating. In most cases, displaying these symptoms isn’t an indication that an individual will continue to exhibit the behaviour long-term, or that these symptoms will develop into a more serious eating disorder; instead, symptoms usually fade as the individual becomes more adjusted to their social environment.
Beschell added that binge eating may appear to be harmless on the surface, but there are a few consequences associated with the disorder: it’s one of the main criteria of bulimia nervosa, a serious eating disorder.
“Even without going to the extreme, binge eating alone can cause a lot of distress. It can make a person feel quite guilty and feel even worse about their body image because it can lead to weight gain. In this case, it can actually become a vicious cycle where it may lead to more dieting and consequently more binge eating,” Beschell said.
Caroline Lee, News Writer
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