Predictors of Orthorexia Nervosa: Romantic relationship centered and partner focused obsessive compulsive symptoms, perfectionism, cognitive flexibility and self-esteem

In the current study, it was aimed to examine the predictive role of romantic relationship and partner-oriented obsessive-compulsive symptoms, cognitive flexibility, perfectionism and self-esteem on the orthorexia nervosa. Accordingly, out of 828 voluntary participants, 19 participants who were not suitable for the purpose of the study were excluded. As a result, 809 participants aged between 18 and 66 (mean age: 29.52 SD = 8.21) were included in the analysis. In line with the purposes of the research, the participants were asked to sign the consent form stating that they wanted to participate in the study before collecting the data. Then, Demographic Information Form, ORTO-11 Inventory, Romantic Relationship Obsessions and Compulsions Scale (ROCD), Partner Focused Romantic Relationship Obsessive Compulsions Symptom Inventory (PROCSI), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, Almost Perfect Scale-R (APS-R/) and Social Comparison Scale (SCA) were given. According to the results of the research, perfectionism, partner-oriented obsessive-compulsive symptoms and romantic relationship-oriented obsessive-compulsive symptoms were found to be predictors of orthorexia nervosa in women. The predictive relationships between cognitive flexibility and self-esteem included in the analysis and orthorexia nervosa were not found to be significant. In males, only partner-focused obsessive-compulsive symptoms were found to be predictors of orthorexia nervosa. The predictive relationships between cognitive flexibility, self-perception, perfectionism, and romantic-focused obsessive-compulsive symptoms and orthorexia nervosa were not significant. Since there is no study on cognitive predictors of orthorexia nervosa within the resources reached in the Turkish literature, it is thought that the findings of the current study will make important contributions to the literature in theoretical and clinical context. Keywords: Orthorexia nervosa, ROCD, Cognitive flexibility, Self-esteem, Perfectionism