Investigating the relationship between orthorexia nervosa and early maladaptive schemas

The main purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between orthorexia nervosa and early maladaptive schemas. In accordance with the purpose of the study, it was aimed to determine to what extent early maladaptive schemas (EMS) predicted the orthorexic tendency. The samples of the study consists of 510 adult individuals between the ages of 18-65. Within the framework of the research hypotheses, several scales and test were applied to the participants following: Sociodemographic Information Form, Orthorexia Nervosa Scale (ORTO-11) and Young Schema Questionnaire Short Form – 3 were used as measurement tools. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), independent samples t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were applied in the analysis of data. The statistically significant negative correlations were observed between the orthorexic tendency and schemas such as negativity/pessimism, social isolation, emotional inhibition, approval-seeking, punitiveness, unrelenting standards/hypercriticalness, vulnerability to harm or illness and insufficient self-control/self-discipline schemas. In addition to the aforementioned findings, the orthorexic tendency was found to be correlated with the sociodemographic variables such as height, weight satisfaction, dietary patterns and the frequency of exercise. As the results of the linear regression analysis, two models were built. The first model consisted of age, height, weight satisfaction, the frequency of exercise, abandonment, pessimism, approval-seeking and unrelenting standards schemas; explaining the 14,8% of the variance. The second model built with the EMSs and orthorexia nervosa only consisted of unrelenting standards and approval seeking schemas, predicting the 4.1% of the variance. The discussion on the diagnostic classification of orthorexia nervosa, which may belong on the eating disorder or obsessive-compulsive spectrum, from the schema perspective was included. The findings of the study were discussed within the scope of the relevant literature.