Speaker
Description
Introduction: Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is a proposed clinical condition characterised by a pathological obsession with healthy eating. Despite ongoing research, it has yet to be clarified whether ON could be considered a part of Feeding and Eating Disorders (FED) or a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and whether it warrants recognition as a unique diagnostic entity. To shed light on this matter, a psychometric network analysis was conducted by considering these three clusters of symptoms. Methods: A total of 422 participants (Mage=20.70, SD=3.44; 71.8% women) completed self-report questionnaires, including the Eating Attitudes Test-26, the Disordered Eating Questionnaire, the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale, the ORTO-15, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised. Results: Findings revealed that ON, FED, and OCD emerged as relatively distinct communities within the network structure. Importantly, ON was more closely related to the cluster of FED. Specifically, an examination of edge weights and centrality metrics highlighted shared characteristics between FED and ON, such as the economic and emotional consequences due to strict adherence to healthy dietary rules. Additionally, inter-cluster edges were observed for guilt following eating, purging behaviours, and food-related worry, which bridged the theoretically defined communities of FED and ON. Conversely, excessive washing due to feeling contaminated played a pivotal role in linking OCD with ON. Conclusions: Our findings support ON as distinct from both OCD and FED, yet closely related to the latter. The stronger interrelationships observed between FED and ON might suggest considering obsessive fixation with healthy eating as a distinct entity within the spectrum of eating disorders.
| If you're submitting a symposium talk, what's the symposium title? | Applications of Psychometric Network Analysis in Psychology |
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| If you're submitting a symposium, or a talk that is part of a symposium, is this a junior symposium? | No |
