Experiencing financial difficulties at school may increase the risk of female students developing an eating disorder, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the University of Southampton found that, conversely,  having extreme attitudes to food and eating predicted short-term financial difficulties for female students, suggesting the possibility of a "vicious cycle" occurring.

"There may be a 'vicious cycle' for these students, where negative attitudes towards eating increase the risk of financial difficulties in the short term, and those difficulties further exacerbate negative eating attitudes in the longer term," Dr. Thomas Richardson, lead author of the study and clinical psychologist, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from more than 400 undergraduate students from universities across the United Kingdom to look at the relationship between socioeconomic status and eating attitudes.

Study participants completed surveys assessing family affluence, recent financial difficulties (for example being unable to afford heating or having to borrow money) and attitudes towards food and eating using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT).

The results indicated a relationship between financial situation and eating disorders in women, but not in men.

"It may be that those at higher risk of having an eating disorder feel like they have no control over events in their life, such as their financial situation, and they may then restrict their eating as a way of exercising control in other areas of their life," Richardson said.

These links need to be further explored to determine causal mechanisms for the relationship between financial difficulties and eating attitudes, he added.

The findings are detailed in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.