Risk of Eating Disorders, Perceived Stress and Social Support in University Students : Slice Study

Abstract

Background: We aimed to investigate the contribution of gender, country, perceived stress (PS) and perceived social support (PSS) to the risk of eating disorders (ED) among university students. Methods: 1687 freshmen university students (74.21% females, mean age 20.30, SD=3.78) from SK (n=607), LT (n=539) & HU (n=541) completed the SCOFF questionnaire, Cohen´s perceived stress scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Binary logistic regression was performed to calculate the odds of risk of ED as a full model with gender, country, PS and PSS as independent variables. Findings: The model was statistically significant and explained between 10.5% & 16.5% of the variance in the occurrence of ED indicators. Gender and country were significant with an odds ratio of 0.421, 95% CI: 0.301-0.589 (men vs. women) and 2.99, 95% CI: 2.20-4.05 (LT vs. SK) respectively. PS increased the likelihood that respondents would be in the ED risk group with an odds ratio of 1.14, 95% CI: 1.10-1.19 and PSS decreased it with an odds ratio of 0.985, 95% CI: 0.977-0.994. Discussion: Prevention strategies of ED should also be aimed at stress management and looking for social support sources.