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

Purpose: 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.