Associations between personality traits and emotional experiences as predictors of obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

This quantitative cross-sectional descriptive research aimed to investigate the relationship between personality traits, emotions, and obesity among Saudi adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study recruited 383 participants from Riyadh using non-probability sampling. A validated online survey, including the PANAS-SF and BFI-10 measures, was used and hosted on Qualtrics. Descriptive and multiple regression analyses were performed on the data. The study found that conscientiousness was the highest personality trait among the sample, with an average score of 7.74, while the mean for openness was the lowest. The incidence of obesity was high among participants, with a rate of 29.2 %. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between negative affect and obesity (p = 0.033). Based on these findings, public health specialists and health promoters should design programs using the socio-ecological model as a guide to address the important factors at every level of the model.