Objective To explore the associations among life events, anxiety levels, and eating behaviors in students transitioning from primary to junior high school from both student and parent perspectives, so as to provide evidence for psychological and dietary behavioral interventions during this transitional period. Methods From July 2023 to June 2025, a cluster-based survey was conducted among sixth-grade primary school students, first-year junior high school students, and their parents in one district of Chengdu, China. A total of 623 matched student-parent pairs were included. Students completed the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS), while students and parents independently completed the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) and the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC). Paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to compare differences and agreement between the two perspectives. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were used to examine the associations among life events, anxiety levels, and eating behaviors. Results Significant differences were found between parent ratings and student self-ratings in several CEBQ subscales, whereas no significant differences were observed in the total scores of food avoidance behavior or food approach behavior (both P>0.05). Parents reported higher levels of life event exposure than students (Z=-4.977, P<0.001). ICC analysis showed weak agreement between the two perspectives across eating behavior dimensions and life event ratings (ICC=0.147 - 0.366). Life events were positively correlated with anxiety levels, and the correlation was stronger in student self-reports(rs=0.595) than in parent reports (rs=0.315) (P<0.001). Both life events and anxiety levels were positively associated with food avoidance behavior and food approach behavior (P<0.05), with relatively stronger correlations observed for food avoidance behavior. After adjusting for confounding factors, multiple regression analysis further showed that both life events and anxiety levels were associated with both types of eating behaviors. Their impact was greater on food avoidance behavior (life events: β=0.231, anxiety: β=0.229) than on food approach behavior (life events:β= 0.117, anxiety:β=0.164).Male students and first-year junior high school students were more likely to exhibit food approach behavior (P<0.001). Conclusions Life events and anxiety levels are closely related to the eating behaviors of students during the primary-to-junior-high transition, but their influence pathways differ. Life events have a more direct impact on food avoidance behavior, whereas higher anxiety levels tend to drive food approach behavior. Student self-reported data may be more sensitive in identifying psychological-behavioral associations. Discrepancies between student and parent assessments may provide important reference for targeted home-school collaborative interventions.
Key words
primary-to-junior high transition /
life event exposure /
anxiety /
eating behavior /
dual perspectives of students and parents
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