The relationship between eating attitudes and distress tolerance in obsessive compulsive disorder

Abstract Objective: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the eating attitudes of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, while the secondary purpose is to examine the relationship between eating attitudes and distress tolerance. Methods: The study included 60 OCD patients and 60 healthy individuals as a control group. The data of the study were collected using the Padua Inventory (PE), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: In comparison to the control group, the EAT-26 (p = 0.001) and BDI (p = 0.001) scores of the patient group were significantly higher, while the DTS total score (p = 0.001) was significantly low. The patients were divided into two groups based on the EAT-26 cutoff score. In the group with EAT-26 ≥ 30; the total PI score (p = 0.035), rumination (p = 0.010), impulses (p = 0.001) and sub-scale scores and BDI scores (p = 0.038) were significantly higher, while the DTS total score (p = 0.005), tolerance (p = 0.000), regulation (p = 0.013) and self-efficacy (p = 0.009) sub-scale scores were significantly lower. Discussion: Our study found that the eating habits of the OCD patients were more irregular than those of the healthy individuals. Further, the distress tolerance of the patients with irregular eating attitudes was significantly lower.