Browsing by Author "Erkinheimo, Emilia"

Objectives. Eating disorder (ED) symptoms are quite common in youth, especially among girls. EDs are life-threatening illnesses, but also separate and subclinical ED symptoms are associated with psychological distress, and they present a risk for developing more severe symptoms. EDs are known to be associated with social impairment and problems in social competence. Research is scarcer regarding ED symptoms in the general population and its associations with different aspects of social competence. Longitudinal studies and data concerning boys are especially needed. This prospective study examines whether childhood social competence is associated with ED symptoms in adolescence among girls or boys in the general population. Social competence is understood as a hypernym, and social skills, aggressiveness, social anxiety and social cognition are examined as its aspects. The prospective nature of the study creates a possibility to identify associations between social competence in middle childhood and ED symptoms later in adolescence. Methods. The data was from the Finnish cohort study Glycyrrhizin in Licorice (GLAKU). The final sample included 193 participants, of which 115 were girls (59.6%). The children’s social skills and their tendency towards social anxiety and aggressiveness at 8 years of age were evaluated with the Social Competence and Behavioral Evaluation (SCBE-30) inventory by their mothers. Sociocognitive skills were evaluated with the theory of mind subtests of the NEPSY-II test battery at 12 years of age. At 17 years of age, the participants evaluated their ED symptoms with the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI-2). The scales used were bulimia, drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction. Associations between the social competence variables and ED symptoms were examined with linear regression analysis separately for girls and boys. Results and conclusions. Lower scores in the theory of mind verbal task predicted an increase in drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction for girls and an increase in bulimia subscale for boys. Concerning the mechanism between ED symptoms and problems in social cognition, it has been suggested that impairments in theory of mind might lead to misunderstandings of others’ verbal and nonverbal expressions, and thus in worse experiences in relationships. These problems might then in turn lead to adopting ED symptoms as maladaptive coping strategies. Even though the effect found in this study was weak, it should not be ignored; even mild sosiocognitive deficits may be a risk factor for ED development, and the deficits might exacerbate as a consequence of EDs. Strengthening theory of mind skills could work as a preventative measure for development or exacerbation of ED symptoms.