A relação entre ansiedade e transtornos alimentares em adolescentes: Uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a phase of intense physical, emotional, and social changes that directly affect eating behavior. Anxiety and stress are psychological factors commonly associated with the development of eating disorders, such as emotional eating, changes in body weight, and psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety, harming the physical and emotional health of adolescents. Objective: describe the relationship between anxiety and eating disorders in adolescents. Methodology: narrative review of recent studies, through searches in the PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, BIREME, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases, with articles selected between 2018 and 2023 involving adolescents (10 to 19 years old), addressing anxiety and eating disorders. The selection included clinical trials, epidemiological studies, and meta-analyses, while experimental studies and simple reviews were excluded. Results: Twenty-six articles were used. Most of them investigate risk factors, behavioral patterns, and the bidirectionality between anxiety and eating disorders, in addition to considering social influences, such as media and acculturative stress. Discussion: The studies analyzed point to a strong relationship between eating disorders and psychological factors, such as anxiety, depression, and reduced self-esteem. The literature reveals significant differences in the prevalence of eating disorders between genders, with them being more common in female adolescents. The family and socioeconomic environment exerts a significant influence on the development of eating disorders. Conclusions: Anxiety, especially in adolescents with low self-esteem, is one of the main triggers for dysfunctional eating behaviors, increasing the risk of developing eating disorders.