A cross-sectional study on the evaluation of the relationship between emotional eating behavior and depression of students studying at Universities in Ankara

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between emotional eating and depression in university students. In addition, in this direction, it is aimed to reveal the relations of variables such as age, gender, body weight, BMI with emotional eating and depression. The study was carried out with the participation of 323 volunteer individuals, 242 women and 81 men, consisting of associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students studying at universities in Ankara between November 2020 and May 2021. Research data were collected by questionnaire method. Since data collection could not be carried out face-to-face due to the Covid-19 epidemic that existed during the research period, it was filled in by volunteers over the internet and delivered to the researcher. The questionnaire included three separate forms, namely the demographic information form, the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. The mean age of participants was 23.6±4.09. Considering the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire mean scores of the participants, restrictive eating was 2.48±0.8; emotional eating was 2.49±1.1 and external eating was 3.17±1.3. Looking at the Beck Depression Scale, it is seen that 29% of the participants have moderate depression and 10% have severe depression. As a result of the study, emotional eating was found to be higher in individuals with high depression levels (p<0.05). In addition, a significant relationship was found between gender, age, smoking and alcohol use, personal weight perception and BMI status and DEB-Q subscales. However, while there is no significant relationship between the depression levels of individuals and their gender, smoking and alcohol use, and psychological support, there is a significant relationship between depression level and age, personal weight perception, BMI status and sleep pattern.