Relationship Between Eating Behaviors and Stress

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between eating behaviors and stress. The characteristics of the subjects participating in the study included male and female college students ranging between 18 to 24 years of age. A total of 105 subjects (57 females, 48 males) were chosen on a volunteer basis, they were asked to read and sign an informed consent to ensure their compliance for participating before the Eating Attitudes Test 26 and the Mood Anxiety Inventory surveys were administrated to them. The results were then collected and calculated using a simple correlation analysis in order to determine the relationship between eating attitudes and stress. The results showed that stress (MAI) was moderately correlated with eating behaviors (EAT 26) in women with an r value of .48 and a relatively low relationship with an r value of .38 in male participates (p < .05). However, the statistical outcome of the study relatively supported there is a relationship between stress and eating behaviors in both male and female participates with a greater EAT 26 score, r value of .72 for males and .51 for females as well as a moderate relationship in the female participates