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<p>Students in economically disadvantaged regions face heightened mental health challenges related to financial strain, family obligations, and academic demands, increasing vulnerability to maladaptive eating behaviors. Although the dual-factor model of mental health integrates distress and well-being, its relevance to eating behaviors in disadvantaged college populations remains unclear. This study examined associations between psychological distress, satisfaction with life, and eating behaviors among Brazilian first-year college students from economically disadvantaged regions using both individual- and dual-factor models of mental health. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 485 students from 2 socioeconomically unequal cities (Gini index ≤ 0.56). Psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and somatization) and satisfaction with life were examined as exposures, and eating behaviors (emotional, external, and restrained eating) as outcomes. Canonical correlation analysis generated synthetic variables for distress (u<sub>1</sub>) and eating behaviors (v<sub>1</sub>). Unsupervised machine learning identified 4 mental health profiles: complete mental health, vulnerable, symptomatic but content, and troubled. Multilevel linear regression showed that psychological distress (u<sub>1</sub>) was more strongly associated with eating behaviors (v<sub>1</sub>) (β<sub>standardized</sub> = 0.342; 95% CI 0.240 to 0.444) than satisfaction with life (β<sub>standardized</sub> =  − 0.117; 95% CI − 0.217 to − 0.017). A gradient pattern was also observed across mental health profiles, with the troubled profile (high distress and low well-being) showing the largest standardized coefficient (β<sub>standardized</sub> = 0.356; 95% CI 0.255 to 0.459) relative to complete mental health. These findings indicate that both dimensional and profile-based approaches to mental health may be useful for understanding maladaptive eating in economically disadvantaged college students.</p>

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Mental health profiles and eating behaviors in college students from economically disadvantaged regions

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月25日

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  • Bárbara Saldanha Lima,
  • Augusto César Ferreira De Moraes,
  • Lorrane Cristine Conceição da Silva,
  • José Guilherme dos Santos Neto,
  • Marcia Ferreira Sales,
  • Rhavenna Thais Silva Oliveira,
  • Evellyn Ravena da Silva Gomes,
  • Leticia Ribeiro Borges Nogueira,
  • Francisco Leonardo Torres-Leal,
  • Fernando Peixoto Quaresma,
  • Shirley Cunha Feuerstein,
  • Kliver Antonio Marin,
  • Benjamin Baird,
  • Marcus Vinicius Nascimento-Ferreira

摘要

Students in economically disadvantaged regions face heightened mental health challenges related to financial strain, family obligations, and academic demands, increasing vulnerability to maladaptive eating behaviors. Although the dual-factor model of mental health integrates distress and well-being, its relevance to eating behaviors in disadvantaged college populations remains unclear. This study examined associations between psychological distress, satisfaction with life, and eating behaviors among Brazilian first-year college students from economically disadvantaged regions using both individual- and dual-factor models of mental health. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 485 students from 2 socioeconomically unequal cities (Gini index ≤ 0.56). Psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and somatization) and satisfaction with life were examined as exposures, and eating behaviors (emotional, external, and restrained eating) as outcomes. Canonical correlation analysis generated synthetic variables for distress (u1) and eating behaviors (v1). Unsupervised machine learning identified 4 mental health profiles: complete mental health, vulnerable, symptomatic but content, and troubled. Multilevel linear regression showed that psychological distress (u1) was more strongly associated with eating behaviors (v1) (βstandardized = 0.342; 95% CI 0.240 to 0.444) than satisfaction with life (βstandardized =  − 0.117; 95% CI − 0.217 to − 0.017). A gradient pattern was also observed across mental health profiles, with the troubled profile (high distress and low well-being) showing the largest standardized coefficient (βstandardized = 0.356; 95% CI 0.255 to 0.459) relative to complete mental health. These findings indicate that both dimensional and profile-based approaches to mental health may be useful for understanding maladaptive eating in economically disadvantaged college students.