Anxiety and eating behaviors: Mediating effect of ethnic identity and acculturation stress

Abstract

Immigration changes the daily dynamics of migrant individuals and communities, as individuals confront new cultures and environments, including new foods and eating styles. Consequent influences on eating behaviors comprise an individual's actions in feeding themself that are conditioned by biological, social, cultural, and psychological factors. Mental health indicators such as anxiety and stress reflect negative impacts of acculturation on migrants' health, but ethnic identity is potentially protective. However, the relationship between these mental health indicators and immigrant populations' eating behaviors have not been addressed. Our objective was to analyze the mediating effects of acculturation stress and ethnic identity on the relationship between anxiety and three dimensions of eating behaviors in Colombian migrants living in Chile. A total of 959 Colombian immigrants participated. Ethnic identity only partially mediated the effect of emotional eating. The other two dimensions had direct effects but no mediating effects. Conversely, acculturation stress and emotional eating partially mediated restrained eating while external intake had a direct effect but no mediation. Anxiety had significant direct effects with all the dimensions analyzed. Ethnic identity score related to a protective effect between anxiety and emotional eating. Stress of acculturation, conversely, was a risk factor in the relationship between anxiety, emotional eating, and restrained eating.