Psychosocial factors associated with disordered eating symptom severity among an international sample of female cancer survivors

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Zoe Nelson, University of Connecticut; Dean Cruess, University of Connecticut

Version:  View help for Version V1

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openICPSR disordered eating among female cancer survivors.sav application/x-spss-sav 322.5 KB 03/09/2026 12:34:PM

Project Citation: 

Nelson, Zoe, and Cruess, Dean. Psychosocial factors associated with disordered eating symptom severity among an international sample of female cancer survivors. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-03-09. https://doi.org/10.3886/E246862V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This study investigated psychosocial factors potentially associated with current disordered eating (DE) severity among an international sample of female cancer survivors. We utilized Prolific to recruit adult females with no history of pediatric cancer who had completed active treatment for a stage I-IV solid malignancy at least three months prior. Participants completed a cross-sectional survey assessing demographics, specific psychosocial factors, and current DE severity. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlations, t-tests, and linear regression. Participants (N = 78, M = 41.78 years) had mostly experienced stage I cancer (41.03%, n = 32). Numerous psychosocial factors (body image concerns, fear of cancer recurrence, experiences with discrimination, social needs, difficulties tolerating uncertainty, perceived stress, generalized anxiety symptoms, depressive symptom) were significantly and positively associated with current DE severity even when controlling for cancer stage and time since treatment. These results may inform the development of novel DE interventions for female cancer survivors.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources University of Connecticut's Christine N. Witzel Award Fund

Scope of Project

Universe:  View help for Universe Individuals were age ≥18 years, assigned the biological sex of female at birth, with a history of an invasive (stage I-IV) solid cancer diagnosed when ≥18 years old, no pediatric cancer history, active invasive CT (chemotherapy, radiation, and/or non-elective surgery) completed ≥3 months prior, and fluency in reading English to complete study measures.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data
Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes This study, including the uploading of de-identified and fully anonymous data to openICPSR, was approved by the University of Connecticut Institutional Review Board (IRB; Protocol #H23-0581). Data collection occurred in the fall of 2024.

To further protect participants’ privacy with uploading this dataset to openICPSR, rather than reporting participants’ exact age as was originally collected, age here is reported in categories (e.g., 18-25, 26-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, 81-90, and 91-100). Please note that the AgeRange_Collapsed variable within the attached SPSS does not include hyphens due to SPSS data formatting restrictions (e.g., someone 18-25 years old would be represented as "1825" in data view). 

Also, any qualitative free response text where participants could select “other” and then elaborate (e.g., race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, cancer type, cancer treatment type, etc.) was deleted before uploading this data to openICPSR out of an abundance of caution. 

Additionally, on openICPSR we are not reporting what region of the United States individuals resided in; we still reported whether individuals resided in the USA, and if not, their continent of residency. 

Methodology

Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) web-based survey
Scales:  View help for Scales
  1. Disordered eating: 28-item Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q); uses Likert scale (1 = never, 6 = every day); subscales = Restraint, Eating Concern, Shape Concern, and Weight Concern; scores ≥4 are clinically significant for eating disorder pathology
  2. Eating behaviors: 20-item Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale (SEES); uses Likert scale (1 = I eat much less than usual, 5 = I eat much more than usual); subscales = Happiness, Sadness, Anger, and Anxiety
  3. Body image: 10-item Body Image Scale (BIS); uses Likert scale (0 = not at all, 4 = very much); scores of ≥10 clinically significant for high distress
  4. Experiences with discrimination: 10-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS); uses Likert scale (0 = never, 5 = almost every day)
  5. Health needs: Social Need Screening Toolkit
  6. Fear of cancer recurrence: 9-item Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form (FCRI-SF); uses Likert scale (0 = not at all, 4 = a great deal); scores ≥15.7 are clinically significant 
  7. Health locus of control: Form A of the 18-item Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC-A) scale; uses Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 6 = strongly agree); subscales = Internal, Chance, Powerful Others, Doctors, and Other People
  8. Intolerance of uncertainty: 27-item Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS); uses Likert scale (1 = not at all characteristic of me, 5 = entirely characteristic of me); scores ≥64 clinically significant
  9. Stress: 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10); uses Likert scale (0 = never, 4 = very often); scores 0-13 = low, 14-26 = moderate, 27-40 = high
  10. Depression: 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8); uses Likert scale (0 = not at all, 3 = nearly every day); scores 5-9 = mild, 10-14 = moderate, 15-24 = severe
  11. Anxiety = 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7); uses Likert scale (0 = not at all, 3 = nearly every day); scores of 0-4 = minimal, 5-9 = mild, 10-14 = moderate, ≥15 = severe


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