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

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.<b> </b>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.