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. 2024 May 27:12:1414110.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1414110. eCollection 2024.

Psychosocial risk and protective factors for youth problem behavior are associated with food addiction in the Generation Z

Luisa Mastrobattista  1 , Luis J Gomez Perez  2 , Luigi Gallimberti  2 , Bruno Genetti  3 , Alessandra Andreotti  3 , Daniele Fassinato  3 , Lucia Monacis  4 , Pasquale Anselmi  5 , Daiana Colledani  5 , Adele Minutillo  1 , Claudia Mortali  1
Affiliations

Psychosocial risk and protective factors for youth problem behavior are associated with food addiction in the Generation Z

Luisa Mastrobattista et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Objective: Food Addiction (FA) and other well-known risk behavior as substance misuse tend to co-occur and may share similar risk and protective factors. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the diagnosis/severity of FA and psychosocial domains typically related to risk behavior syndrome in a large, nationally representative community sample of Generation Z underage Italian students.

Method: The sample consisted of 8,755 students (3,623 from middle schools, 5,132 from high schools). A short version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 was administered to evaluate FA. Risk and protective factors related to demographic, personality, behavior, and family variables were examined. Stepwise multivariate logistic and linear regressions were conducted.

Results: The prevalence of FA was 30.8%. Female gender, social anxiety and depression symptoms, social withdrawal risk, Internet gaming disorder, social media addiction, current substance use, social challenge engagement and experienced doxing boosted the chance of FA diagnosis, whereas eating fruit and vegetables, playing competitive sports and an average sleep duration of 7-8 h per night reduced these odds. FA severity was significantly and positively associated with trait impulsiveness, social anxiety and depressive symptoms, risk of social withdrawal, recent substance use, social media, and gaming addiction, doxing suffered and risky social challenges participation. Negative associations between the severity of FA and fruit and vegetable diet habits were found.

Conclusion: Our findings confirm that FA is widespread among Italian adolescents. The associations between the diagnosis and severity of FA and psychosocial risk factors for health, including, addictive and deviant behaviors related to digital misuse, suggest its belonging to the risk behavior constellation. Health promotion schemes based on a multicomponent strategy of intervention should consider the inclusion of FA and its psychosocial correlates.

Keywords: Generation Z; adolescence; behavioral addiction; food addiction; psychosocial risk and protective factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multivariate logistic regression analysis of associations between Food Addiction diagnosis and psychosocial risk factors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Multivariate linear regression analysis of associations between S-YFAS 2.0 symptom score and psychosocial risk factors in the total sample.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Multivariate linear regression analysis of associations between S-YFAS 2.0 symptom score and psychosocial risk factors in the subsample with Food Addiction diagnosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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