Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40485925›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025

Breakfast skipping and depressive symptoms in an epidemiological youth sample in Hong Kong: the mediating role of reduced attentional control.

Stephanie Ming Yin Wong, Olivia Choi, Yi Nam Suen, Christy Lai Ming Hui, Edwin Ho Ming Lee, Sherry Kit Wa Chan, Eric Yu Hai Chen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Stephanie Ming Yin WongDepartment of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Olivia ChoiDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Yi Nam SuenSchool of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Christy Lai Ming HuiDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Edwin Ho Ming LeeDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Sherry Kit Wa ChanDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Eric Yu Hai ChenDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Breakfast skipping is common among young people, although previous work has suggested its negative influences on cognitive and executive functions and mental health outcomes. Whether reduced impulse control, particularly in the cognitive domain, would be a mechanism that links breakfast skipping to elevated psychiatric symptoms remains to be investigated. Methods: We used data from 3154 young people (aged 15-25 years) in the Hong Kong Youth Epidemiological Study of Mental Health 2019-2022. Participants were asked about their general breakfast consumption habits, impulsivity (overall and its subdomains, using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7), and functioning (reduced and lost productivity due to mental health problems, and the observer-rated Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale). Impulsivity and its subdomains were tested for their potential mediating influences between breakfast skipping frequency and symptom outcomes. Sociodemographic variables, psychiatric history, and eating disorder symptoms were adjusted for in all mediation models. Results: The weighted prevalence of daily breakfast consumption and breakfast skipping (defined as no breakfast consumption at all) was 33% and 14.2%, respectively. More frequent breakfast skipping was associated with higher levels of impulsivity, specifically in terms of attentional control ( Conclusion: Breakfast skipping is associated with elevated depressive symptoms in young people, with impaired attentional control being an important mechanism in this relationship. Encouraging young people to build regular breakfast habits may be incorporated as part of future lifestyle interventions for mental disorders and be further emphasised in public health policies.

Indexed as

anxiety symptomsattentional controlattentional impulsivitybreakfast skippingdepressive symptomsyouth mental health

Identifiers

PMID40485925
PMCPMC12141854

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.