Prevalence of orthorexia nervosa in university students and its relationship with psychopathological aspects of eating behaviour disorders

Introduction: Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized by an obsession with healthy eating, which may lead to severe physical, psychological and social disorders. It is particularly important to research this problem in populations that do not receive clinical care in order to improve early detectio...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Parra Fernández, María Laura, Rodríguez Cano, Teresa, Onieva Zafra, María Dolores, Pérez Haro, María José, Casero Alonso, Víctor Manuel, Fernández Martínez, Elia, Notario Pacheco, Blanca
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/28851
Acesso em linha:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1943-0
http://hdl.handle.net/10578/28851
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Orthorexia nervosa
Eating disorders
University students
Psychological traits
Behavioral traits
Descrição
Resumo:Introduction: Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is characterized by an obsession with healthy eating, which may lead to severe physical, psychological and social disorders. It is particularly important to research this problem in populations that do not receive clinical care in order to improve early detection and treatment. Objective: The aim of this study was to research the prevalence of ON in a population of Spanish university students and to analyze the possible associations between ON and psychological traits and behaviors that are common to ED. Method: A cross-sectional study with 454 students from the University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain. In total, 295 women and 159 men participated, aged between 18 and 41 years. The ORTO-11-ES questionnaire and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2) were used for this study. The chi squared test was used to compare the homogeneity among the different groups. Results: The scores on the ORTO-11-ES suggested that 17% of students were at risk of ON. The scores on the EDI-2 for the group at risk of ON were significant, compared to the remaining individuals, regarding their drive for thinness (17.1% vs 2.1%), bulimia (2.6% vs 0%), body dissatisfaction (26.3% vs. 12.4%), perfectionism (14.5% vs 4.8%), interoceptive awareness (13.2% vs 1.3%), asceticism (15.8% vs 3.7%) and impulsiveness (9.2% vs 1.9%). Discussion and conclusion: These findings suggest that many of the psychological and behavioral aspects of ED are shared by people who are at risk of ON. Future research should use longitudinal data, examining the temporal relationship among these variables or other underlying variables that may contribute to the concurrence of ED and ON.