The Mediating Role of Attitudes Towards Eating in the Relationship Between Compulsive Instagram Use and Orthorexia in Adults

Gonca Ayse Unal,1 Ufuk Kocatepe Avcı2 1Clinic of Psychiatry, Mersin Sehir Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Toroslar, Mersin, Turkey; 2Department of Psychology, Çağ University, Toroslar, Mersin, TurkeyCorrespondence: Gonca Ayse Unal, Mersin Sehir Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Psychiatry Clinic, Korukent District, 96015 Street, Toroslar, Mersin, 33240, Turkey, Tel +90 3243251000, Fax +903242251010/11, Email [email protected]: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between compulsive use of social media and orthorexia, with a focus on the mediating role of eating attitudes.Patients and Methods: The study involved 255 participants between the ages of 18– 65 who did not have any psychiatric disorders or developmental disabilities. The participants completed a Sociodemographic Information Form, Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory, Social Media Addiction Scale, and Eating Attitudes Test.Results: The results showed a positive correlation between orthorexia and all other scales and sub-scales. Multiple regression analyses revealed that eating attitudes were a significant predictor of all sub-dimensions of orthorexia. Additionally, the sub-dimension of Conflict on the Social Media Addiction Scale was found to predict the Impairments sub-dimension of orthorexia. Further analysis using the PROCESS macro showed that compulsive use of social media not only directly predicted orthorexia, but also indirectly through eating attitudes.Conclusion: These findings emphasize the importance of addressing both compulsive use of social media and eating attitudes when working with individuals who exhibit orthorexic symptoms in clinical settings.Keywords: eating attitude, Instagram, orthorexia, compulsive use of social media, adult