Investigation of the relationship between personality traits and eating disorders in adolescent athletes

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between eating disorders and personality traits in adolescent athletes. Materials and Methods: The study included children between the ages of 17-19; 289 athletes, including 112 women and 177 men, participated. In the study, data were collected from voluntary participation form, demographic information form, YTT-26 and SCL 90 R. Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS package program. Results: In order to test the main hypothesis of the study, correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationship between YTT-26 and SCL 90 R total score and all subtests. According to the results of the correlation analysis, a significant, positive relationship was found between YTT-26 total scores and SCL 90 R total scores and all subtests. In order to test the sub-hypothesis of the study, independent groups t-test was performed to evaluate YTT-26 according to gender. According to the independent sample t-test result; It was found that the eating attitude test scores of women (M=12.17, SD=12.003) were significantly higher than those of men (M=8.34, SD=7.19), t(161.871)=3.049, p<.01. Conclusion: The results of the research showed that personality characteristics and specific demographic characteristics should be taken into consideration when evaluating eating disorders.