A University of Houston researcher is reporting that various childhood experiences, both good and bad, may shape college students’ eating behaviours. The study integrates earlier findings that show adverse childhood experiences negatively affect college students’ eating behaviours, while positive childhood experiences do the opposite.
“We found that positive, or benevolent childhood experiences, had a protective effect against disordered eating. Even in the instance where students had a high amount of adverse childhood experiences, positive childhood experiences mitigated their impact in regard to unhealthy eating behaviours,” reports Craig A. Johnston, associate professor and chair, Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston.
“The most dramatic protective effect was observed when individuals had both low adverse childhood experiences and high positive childhood experiences, reducing disordered eating by 20% to 41%.”
Visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42844-025-00179-y