A model proposal for emotional eating behavior in adolescents: the role of parental acceptance-rejection, psychological rigidity and experiential avoidance

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional eating in adolescents and parental acceptance-rejection, psychological rigidity, and experiential avoidance. The study group consisted of a total of 421 high school students, 253 females and 168 males, studying in Erzincan province during the 2024-2025 academic year. The Turkish Emotional Eating Scale, Parental Acceptance- Rejection Questionnaire Short Form for Mothers and Fathers, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire–Youth 8, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and Personal Information Form were used to collect data for the study. In the resarch, which used a relational screening model, Pearson's moment product correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between the variables. The model developed to examine the relationships between parental rejection, psychological rigidity, experiential avoidance, and emotional eating was tested using Structural Equation Modeling. According to the analysis results, parental rejection positively and significantly predicts psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. Similarly, psychological inflexibility positively and significantly predicts experiential avoidance, and experiential avoidance positively and significantly predicts emotional eating. There is an indirect relationship between parental rejection and emotional eating through experiential avoidance. In addition, there is an indirect relationship between parental rejection and emotional eating through psychological rigidity and experiential avoidance. Research findings suggest that incorporating parents rejecting attitudes, adolescents psychological rigidity, and experiential avoidance into preventive and supportive interventions aimed at teenagers and their parents can make a significant contribution to regulating adolescents emotional eating behaviors.