Relationship between orthorexia nervosa and mentalization: The mediating role of emotion regulation

Variables of this study, orthorexia nervosa, mentalization are new concepts in the literature and studies on these subjects have increased recently. This study aims to investigate whether there is a relationship between orthorexia nervosa and reflective functioning (mentalization) through the possible mediator role of emotion regulation difficulties. The study was conducted by using correlation analysis. The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) - Short Version scale was used to measure mentalization capacity, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Brief Form (DERS-16) scale to measure emotion regulation difficulties, and the ORTO-11 Inventory scale to measure orthorexia nervosa. A total of 200 participants in the ages between 18 and 45 are participated in the study. The findings of the study show there is not a significant relationship between reflective functioning and orthorexia nervosa. The results also indicate no significant relationship between orthorexia nervosa and difficulty in emotion regulation. Yet there is a positive and statistically significant effect of reflective functioning on emotion regulation difficulties. Finally, findings shows no significant mediator role of emotion regulation between reflective functioning and orthorexia nervosa. Although some of the results of the study are compatible with the literature, different results are also found and the possible reasons for these findings are discussed. The variables of this research are the new topics in the literature and this study aims to contribute to this newly formed literature. It is hoped that the results of the study will be an opportunity for new studies. Keywords: emotion regulation, mentalization, orthorexia nervosa, reflective functioning