Examination of the relationship between food addiction, cognitive distortions, and emotion regulation difficulties among individuals with overweight referred to a dietitian clinic

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between food addiction, cognitive distortions and difficulty in emotion regulation among overweight individuals who consult a dietitian. The research group of the study consists of 77 people (51 females, 26 males; mean age: 30.27) between the ages of 18-65 who applied to Malatya State Hospital Diet Polyclinic. Sociodemographic data form, Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS) were used to collect data within the scope of this research. As a result of the research, 25 (32.5%) of the 77 people who participated in the study scored above the threshold score of the YFAS. Additionally, it was concluded that the food addiction status of the participants did not differ according to gender (p>0.05). and BMI (p>0.05). It was determined that there was a negative and significant relationship between the participants' food addiction status and the age variable (r = -.275; p ˂.05). In addition, it was found that the total score and subdomain scores of the DERS of the participants did not show a statistically significant difference comparing those without food addiction and those with food addiction. CDS scores of the participants with food addiction were found to be higher than those without food addiction (p <0.05). There was a positive and significant relationship between the participants' DERS scores and the CDS total scores (r=0.637; p<0.01). Our research results indicate that there may be a relationship between food addiction and cognitive distortion.