ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Eating Behavior
The association between food addiction, eating attitudes, self-esteem, and emotional appetite: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
Nevin Sanlier1,2*
Omur Alyakut3- 1Ankara Medipol Universitesi, Ankara, Türkiye
- 2TUBITAK ULAKBIM, Çankaya, Türkiye
- 3Kocaeli Universitesi, Körfez, Türkiye
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Background: Eating behavior is a multidimensional construct shaped by physical, emotional, and psychological factors. This study investigated the relationships and effects of self-esteem, emotional appetite, and food addiction on eating attitudes among young adults, while also assessing the role of demographic variables in relation to eating attitudes (EAT-26 scores). Methods: Data were collected from 766 participants (171 women, 595 men) using the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSB), Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ), and Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS). Results: Among the participants, 71.7% had a healthy weight, 13.0% were underweight, and 15.2% were overweight or obese. Significant associations were observed between the EAT-26 eating preoccupation subscale and educational level, smoking, skipping snacks, eating out (p<0.05), and body mass index (BMI) (p<0.01). The restriction subscale was positively correlated with BMI and perceived adequate nutrition (p<0.01), whereas the social pressure subscale was negatively correlated with educational status, BMI (p<0.01), and skipping snacks (p<0.05). The EAT-26 total score was significantly associated with self-esteem (RSB), negative emotional appetite (EMAQ negative), and food addiction (YFAS) (p<0.01). Further analyses identified gender (B = –2.00; p<0.05), negative emotional appetite (B = 0.03; p<0.05), and food addiction (B = 0.496; p<0.01) as significant predictors of EAT-26. Conclusion: The results indicate that eating behavior is most strongly influenced by food addiction, negative emotional appetite, and low self-esteem, underscoring the decisive role of psychological factors.
Keywords: Young people, food addiction, self-esteem, emotional appetite, eating attitude
Received: 12 Sep 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sanlier and Alyakut. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nevin Sanlier, nevintekgul@gmail.com
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