Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Αντιμετώπιση Εξαρτήσεων-ΕξαρτησιολογίαLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Supervisors info:
Γονιδάκης Φραγκίσκος, Αναπληρωτής καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Λαζαράτου Ελένη, Αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασιλειάδου Μαρία, Αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια, Θεολογική σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Ψυχολογική εξάρτηση από το φαγητό: Διερεύνηση αυτής της συμπεριφοράς και συσχέτισή της με το άγχος σε νοσηλευτές -τριες που δουλεύουν σε ψυχιατρικά νοσοκομεία
Translated title:
Emotional eating: Research of such behavior and its correlation with stress in psychiatric hospital nurses
Summary:
Stress is a mental disorder that affects significantly a person's daily life. The main factors that lead a person to experience anxiety disorder can be biological, genetic or even psychological. Stress is associated with eating disorders and is often referred to as emotional eating. The present study aims to evaluate the psychological dependence of food and specifically on the way in which food is used as a substitute to face up psychological needs. The study focuses on the investigation of the specific behavior of emotional eating and its association with stress among nurses working in psychiatric hospitals.
Shift work is stressful, disrupts family life, interrupts and alters the regularity and frequency of food consumption. Nurses consume unhealthy meals that have high fat and sugar content in order to cope with their work stress. Few studies have examined the correlation between shift duties and abnormal eating behaviors among nurses working in hospitals, and in particular in psychiatric clinics.
Specifically, the sample of the present research consisted of 129 employees (nurses) from the PSNA (Psychiatric Hospital of Attica) and private psychiatric clinics in Athens. The majority of the sample were women, aged 31 to 40 years, weighing up to 60 kg and heightening from 1.61 to 1.70 meters. In addition, most of the participants were married, technologically educated, did not hold a master's or doctoral degree and worked in the private sector between 11-15 years. The DEBQ questionnaire was used to investigate the psychological dependence on food and its correlation with stress and the HADS questionnaire to identify depression and anxiety in hospitals a week before the scheduled examination.
As for the feelings of anxiety, the participants were more interested in their appearance and were less likely to experience sudden feelings of panic. As for the feelings of depression, they felt most often cheerful and less often horrible. Furthermore, the participants were more positive about whether they have gained weight, if they eat less than usual and less positive about the fact that they often refuse food consumption because they are worried about their weight and that they consciously eat specific food to lose weight. The emotions that lead them to consume food are mainly related to the fact that they have nothing to do, and that they consume more food when it pleases them in taste and not because they are seduced by those around them when they eat. Increased stress has been shown to be associated with increased levels of depression, increased frequency of emotional eating and greater influence from external factors on food consumption. The study also found that there was no statistically significant association between sex or employment with stress or emotional eating.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Anxiety, Psychological pisorders, Emotional eating, Nurses in psychiatric hospitals
