Prospective associations between loneliness and disordered eating from early adolescence to adulthood.

This study contributes to the existing knowledge by examining for the first time the dynamic nature of the association between loneliness and disordered eating while accounting for all time-invariant confounding. Our findings reveal a pattern of bidirectional associations between loneliness and disordered eating that appears to vary by developmental period, gender, and type of eating problem. Our findings suggest that social factors have to be taken into account when designing prevention strategies aimed at disordered eating.