Mindful Eating May Help Explain The Association Between Psychological Difficulties and Food Addiction in Adolescents with Obesity

Abstract

Food addiction (FA) has been proposed as a behavioral factor contributing to obesity in adolescents, particularly among those experiencing psychological difficulties. Mindful eating may represent a protective characteristic, but its statistical relationship with psychological difficulties and FA in adolescents with obesity remains unclear. Forty-eight adolescents with obesity (ages 11–18; 54.2% female) were recruited from a pediatric outpatient clinic in Türkiye. FA symptoms were assessed using the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C), mindful eating with the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), and psychological difficulties via parent reports on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). SDQ total difficulties score was positively correlated with YFAS-C symptom scores (r =.45, p =.001) and negatively correlated with MEQ scores (r = –.38, p =.01). MEQ scores were negatively correlated with YFAS-C scores (r = –.64, p <.001). A statistical mediation analysis indicated that mindful eating functioned as a hypothesized mediator, with the data showing an associational pattern consistent with a mediation model. Psychological difficulties were associated with FA both directly (B = 0.068, p =.047) and indirectly through mindful eating (B = 0.058, 95% CI [0.014, 0.109]). The observed pattern suggests that mindful eating may be involved in the statistical relationship between psychological difficulties and FA symptoms, but causal mediation cannot be inferred from cross-sectional data. Mindful eating may represent a potential target for future intervention research. Longitudinal and experimental studies are required to determine temporal ordering and clarify causal pathways.