Journal of Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning, cilt.4, sa.2, ss.322-333, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
In this study, it was aimed to reveal the predictive power of demographic characteristics, cognitive flexibility
and social appearance anxiety of individuals in emerging adulthood on preoccupation with the thought of
eating and loss of control over eating, which are the sub-dimensions of food craving. The design of the
research was structured according to the relational screening model. The study group of the research consists
of 551 participants, 395 (71.7%) women and 156 (28.3%) men. “Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait Short
Form”, “Cognitive Flexibility Inventory”, “Social Appearance Anxiety Scale” and “Personal Information
Form” were used to collect research data. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship
between food craving, cognitive flexibility and social appearance anxiety. Hierarchical regression analysis
was used to determine the predictors of food craving of individuals in emerging adulthood. Considering the
dimension of preoccupation with the thought of eating, while the alternatives, one of the sub-dimensions of
cognitive flexibility, do not make a specific contribution to the model, the control sub-dimension makes a
unique contribution to the model. When the sub-dimension of loss of control over eating is considered,
alternatives from the sub-dimensions of cognitive flexibility make a low-level significant contribution to the
model, while the sub-dimension of control makes a unique contribution to the model. The research results
showed that the sub-dimensions of cognitive flexibility is an important predictor of preoccupation with the
thought of eating and loss of control over eating, and similarly, social appearance anxiety is an important
predictor of all sub-dimensions of food craving.