Version 1
: Received: 8 January 2024 / Approved: 10 January 2024 / Online: 10 January 2024 (09:58:44 CET)
How to cite:
Candeias, A. A.; Félix, A. S. Eating Behavior and Chronic Stress in a Post-pandemic Context Study with Portuguese Young People Aged 15–26 Years. Preprints2024, 2024010762. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.0762.v1
Candeias, A. A.; Félix, A. S. Eating Behavior and Chronic Stress in a Post-pandemic Context Study with Portuguese Young People Aged 15–26 Years. Preprints 2024, 2024010762. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.0762.v1
Candeias, A. A.; Félix, A. S. Eating Behavior and Chronic Stress in a Post-pandemic Context Study with Portuguese Young People Aged 15–26 Years. Preprints2024, 2024010762. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.0762.v1
APA Style
Candeias, A. A., & Félix, A. S. (2024). Eating Behavior and Chronic Stress in a Post-pandemic Context Study with Portuguese Young People Aged 15–26 Years. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.0762.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Candeias, A. A. and Adriana Simões Félix. 2024 "Eating Behavior and Chronic Stress in a Post-pandemic Context Study with Portuguese Young People Aged 15–26 Years" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202401.0762.v1
Abstract
The eating behaviors of young people underwent substantial changes due to the COVID-9 19 pandemic. This study addresses the understanding of pandemic impacts on perceived psycho-10 logical and physical well-being exploring the connection between self-perceived eating behavior 11 quality and chronic stress. A sample of Portuguese young people aged 15-26 years (N=951), com-12 pleted a self-report questionnaire assessing socio-demographic data, perception of eating quality 13 behavior, appetite, stress, well-being and optimism. The results reveal gender differences, with 14 males scoring higher in well-being and optimism, while females exhibit elevated appetite and 15 chronic stress scores, and also reveals negative links between age group and eating quality and 16 chronic stress, and positive links between eating quality and well-being. Well-being emerges as a 17 significant predictor of stress in middle and oldest young adults that maintain or increase quality of 18 eating behaviors, while optimism plays a paradoxical role in predicting higher stress in younger 19 adults with reduced eating quality. These results emphasize the need to consider eating behaviors 20 and stress among young adults as an investment in global public health, given the significant rep-21 resentation of young adults in the population, to mitigate long-term health risks. Effectively reduc-22 ing detrimental eating behaviors and stress in these demographic groups can enhance overall well-23 being and longevity.
Keywords
Eating behavior; Stress; Young People; Pos-pandemic context; Well-being
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.