Exploring the Relationship between Dietary Quality, Eating Behavior, and Mental Health among Young Adults

Michaela Poslt KönigováMartina Sebalo Vnuková^*Ivan SebaloVeronika KolenicovaLucie UrbanovaPetra RehorkovaMartin Anders

• Department of Psychiatry, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czechia

Background: Healthy diets are linked to lower depression and anxiety, whereas diets high in refined sugars and fats predict greater distress. Although emotion-regulation strategies influence eating, little is known about their role in shaping overall diet quality, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Young adulthood (18–30 years) is a critical period when mental health risks and dietary habits consolidate, yet no study has examined how cognitive strategies relate to diet quality and eating behaviors in Czech young adults. Methods: We surveyed 1,027 adults (507 men, 520 women; M_age = 24.6, SD = 3.3) via census-matched quota sampling. Participants completed validated Czech versions of the BDI, BAI, SCL-90, SMBM, and nine CERQ subscales. Diet quality was assessed with a 30-item FFQ to compute DQI-I scores; eating behaviors were measured with the 31-item AEBQ. Stepwise regression (all VIF < 2.0) identified variables associated with DQI-I and food-approach versus food-avoidance behaviors. Results: The DQI-I model explained a small share of variance (Adj. R² = .024; f² = .025). Rumination was positively associated with diet quality (B = .34, p < .001), whereas depressive symptoms were inversely associated (B = –.09, p = .001). The AEBQ model explained more variance (Adj. R² = .155; f² = .183): anxiety, catastrophizing, and focus on the positive were positively associated with food-approach behaviors (all p < .001), while positive reappraisal and acceptance were negatively associated with dysregulated eating (p < .01). Associations should be regarded as tentative and hypothesis-generating. Conclusion: This first census-matched study of Czech young adults reveals complex, partly counterintuitive associations—e.g., rumination linked to healthier diet quality, while some adaptive strategies coincided with more dysregulated eating. Findings should be viewed as exploratory, underscoring the potential role of cognitive-emotional mechanisms in nutritional psychiatry. Integrated approaches that address maladaptive strategies alongside dietary guidance may strengthen prevention and health promotion, pending confirmation in longitudinal and experimental studies.