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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO330

Health attitudes and motivations in orthorexia nervosa

HEALTH ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATIONS IN ORTHOREXIA NERVOSA

Orthorexia nervosa symptoms are most strongly associated with eating disorder symptoms; eating motivations and perfectionism also emerge as independent predictors.

The study aimed to examine the relationships between orthorexia nervosa (ON) and eating disorder symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, perfectionism, and difficulties in emotion regulation, as well as to investigate the effects of health-related attitudes and eating motivations on ON. Using a cross-sectional, observational, and correlational design, the study assessed a community sample of 300 Italian adults (mean age 24.27; standard deviation 4.02). The self-report measures used were the Eating Habits Questionnaire (EHQ-21), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory–Revised (OCI-R), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Health and Taste Attitude Scales (HTAS), Eating Motivations Scale (EATMOT), and Beliefs About Losing Control Inventory (BALCI). Analyses included Pearson correlations and multiple linear regression, with age and years of education entered as covariates. ON symptoms showed strong positive associations with all dimensions of eating disorder symptoms; moderate associations with perfectionism, health motivations in food choice, and general interest in healthy eating; and weak to moderate associations with difficulties in emotion regulation, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and beliefs about losing control. In the regression model predicting ON, significant variables were EAT-26 (b=0.56; β=0.53; standard error 0.05; t=10.17), EATMOT (b=0.19; β=0.19; standard error 0.05; t=3.60), and MPS (b=0.06; β=0.13; standard error 0.02; t=2.60), whereas OCI-R (t=0.35), DERS (t=1.50), HTAS (t=0.97), BALCI (t=0.53), age (t=0.69), and education (t=0.02) did not contribute significantly. The authors report that general interest in health was the most consistent predictor of ON and that health motivations emerged as significant predictors, while the overlap with OCD was limited. Clinically, the study emphasizes the need to distinguish health-motivated restrictive eating from pathological healthy eating in both prevention and treatment.

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