The relationships among perceived stress, mindful eating, addiction-like eating behavior, and BMI in adults: Exploring gender-specific pathways

This study primarily aimed to examine the relationship between perceived stress (PS) on addiction-like eating behavior (AEB), with a focus on the role of mindful eating (ME) in this relationship. The study also aimed to analyse the indirect impact of these relationships on body mass index (BMI) while exploring possible gender differences. This cross-sectional study utilized multigroup path analysis to test a hypothesized model, proposing that PS influences AEB both directly and indirectly through ME, and is also indirectly linked to BMI in a sample of 1626 adults. The multigroup analysis confirmed that the hypothesized model exhibited a good fit for both genders. The findings of the study demonstrated that PS had a significant and positive total and indirect effect on AEB through ME in both genders. Furthermore, multigroup path analyses revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in these path coefficients between females and males. While the direct effect of PS on AEB was only significant in females, the magnitude of this direct effect did not differ significantly between genders. In addition, AEB demonstrated a direct and positive association with BMI, and the indirect pathways from PS to BMI via ME and AEB were found to be significant in both genders. According to the model, ME is negatively associated with AEB and serves as a protective factor against the effects of PS on both AEB and BMI. Consequently, promoting ME may serve as a dual strategy to alleviate stress-induced maladaptive eating behaviors and mitigate weight-related adverse outcomes.