Examining the relationship between eating disorders, anxiety sensitivity and loneliness in high school students

The aim of this study is to examine eating disorders in high school students in terms of anxiety sensitivity and loneliness variables and some demographic variables (gender, whether they have received dietitian help before and whether they have received psychiatrist help before). The study group of the research consists of 400 students studying in four different high school types in Sakarya province in the 2023/2024 academic year. Of the participants, 155 (44.1%) were female and 196 (55.8%) were male. Of the study group, 153 (43.5%) were in the 9th grade and 198 (56.4%) were in the 10th grade. Of the participants, 89 (25.3%) were Anatolian High School students, 93 (26.4%) were Science High School students, 79 (22.5%) were Anatolian Imam Hatip High School students and 90 (25.6%) were Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School students. In the study, data on eating disorders were collected using the Eating Disorders Examination Scale, the Turkish validity and reliability study of which was conducted by Yücel et al. (2011), data on anxiety sensitivity levels were collected using the CADI Scale adapted into Turkish by Yılmaz and Zinnur Kılıç (2015), and data on loneliness levels were collected using the UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form (for Adolescents) adapted into Turkish by Yıldız and Duy (2014). In addition to the scale questions, the participants were asked questions about their gender, whether they had received dietitian help before and whether they had received psychiatrist help before. Data were analyzed using correlation analysis, regression analysis and t test. According to the analyses, it was concluded that there were positive and significant relationships between anxiety sensitivity and loneliness with the sub-dimensions of eating disorders of high school students; anxiety sensitivity and loneliness predicted eating, body and weight concerns among the sub-dimensions of eating disorders. On the other hand, it was found that loneliness predicted restriction, one of the sub-dimensions of eating disorders, while anxiety sensitivity did not. It was found that all sub-dimensions of eating disorders differed statistically significantly according to gender and the scores of female students were higher than those of male students. It was found that body anxiety, one of the sub-dimensions of eating disorders, differed significantly according to whether or not they had received dietitian help before, and body anxiety and weight anxiety sub-dimensions differed significantly according to whether or not they had received psychiatrist help before.