Effects of Emotional Eating on Eating Behaviors Disorder in Students: The Effects of Anxious Mood and Emotion Expression

There is a long-term interest in the effects of undesirable emotions to eating behaviors, due to the strain that it places on a person which can lead to loses his/her health. The present study examined the degree of disordered eating behaviors related to anxiety and alexithymia among high schools girls. This cross-sectional study on 344 girl students of Tehran’s high schools, who were selected by multiple cluster sampling, was conducted. Participants responded to the questionnaires of anxiety of Costello and Comrey (1967), Twenty-item Toronto alexithymia and disordered eating behaviors of Garner and colleagues (1982). The data were analyzed by regression and correlation techniques. Results showed that there was significant positive correlation among anxiety, alexithymia and disordered eating behaviors (p