The relationship between social problem solving and eating pathology: Parallel and serial mediating roles of emotional eating and intuitive eating

This study suggests that a tendency to alter dietary intake to cope can establish a ground for eating pathology. Coping-related eating measures, emotional eating, and intuitive eating were examined as mediators in the relationship between social problem solving and eating pathology. A convenience sample of 377 university students aged between 18 and 30 were recruited. Parallel and serial mediation analyses were conducted. Results indicated that intuitive eating and emotional eating fully mediated the relationship between social problem solving and eating pathology, both independently and sequentially. Findings suggest that deficiencies in effectively dealing with issues in daily life might lead to altering dietary intake as an attempt to cope, which might ultimately lead to eating pathology. The associations between eating pathology components and maladaptive problem-solving style are also discussed within the perspective of the transdiagnostic eating disorder model.