Adverse childhood experiences and adult stress eating

TL;DR

This study finds that childhood trauma increases the likelihood of stress eating in adulthood, which may contribute to poor health outcomes.

Contribution

The study identifies a dose-response relationship between adverse childhood experiences and adult stress eating in a diverse low-income population.

Findings

Individuals with any ACE were 47% more likely to report frequent stress eating as adults.

The association remained significant after adjusting for depression and emotional well-being.

A dose-response trend was observed with increasing number of ACEs.

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are an indicator of childhood trauma and are associated with worse adult health outcomes. We examined the association of ACEs and adult stress eating in a largely low-income and racially diverse population. Among 32,209 Southern Community Cohort Study participants, we used multivariable-adjusted logistic regression to estimate the association of ACEs with frequent adult stress eating. Individuals with any ACE were almost 50% more likely to report frequent stress eating as an adult compared to those without ACEs (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.38, 1.56), and there was a significant dose-response trend with increasing number of ACEs. These associations remained significant after further adjusting for depression and emotional well-being. With the finding that individuals with ACEs are more likely to stress eat during adulthood, and both are implicated in a diverse array of poor health outcomes, further investigation of this association could have translational and therapeutic potential.