Identifying Active Ingredients of the Association Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Disordered Eating in Youth

BackgroundEmerging research suggests neighborhood disadvantage is associated with disordered eating (DE; e.g., binge eating, body dissatisfaction) beginning in middle childhood, with effects that increment those of proximal disadvantage (e.g., family income). Understanding factors that contribute to early risk for youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods is critical because childhood DE predisposes youth to more severe eating disorders in adolescence/adulthood. However, the specific "active ingredients" through which neighborhoods impact DE remain unknown. We examined community violence exposure and limited neighborhood resources (e.g., green spaces, recreational facilities) as two notable neighborhood-level stressors that could contribute to early associations between more distal disadvantage and DE.MethodParticipants included girls and boys oversampled for neighborhood disadvantage from the MSU Twin Registry (N = 2060; Mage = 8.02; 48.7% female). Analyses used structural equation modeling to examine whether community violence exposure and neighbor informant reports of neighborhood resources were associated with DE after accounting for proximal youth characteristics (e.g., family income, racial identity).ResultsCommunity violence exposure was significantly associated with DE (b = 0.20, 95% CI [0.14, 0.27]), but neighborhood resources were not (b = 0.04, 95% CI [-0.13, 0.22]). Associations were consistent across multiple potential moderators, including age, sex, racial identity, family income, and body mass index.ConclusionsCommunity violence is a significant stressor that may help explain associations between neighborhood disadvantage and DE in youth. Additional research is needed to understand the underlying cognitive, affective, and biological mechanisms through which violence exposure may increase the risk for DE in under-resourced contexts.