Self-Control as a Key Mediator and Moderator of the Relationship Between Psychological Distress and Food Addiction in a Large Community Sample of Adults

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the extent to which psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress) predicts food addiction (FA) symptoms and examined whether self-control operates as both a mediator and a moderator in these associations. Method: A total of 4234 adults (40.7 % male) participated in a large-scale, community-based, cross-sectional survey conducted in T & uuml;rkiye. FA symptoms were measured via the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), self-control was assessed via the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), and psychological distress was evaluated via the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Statistical analyses were conducted in SPSS, with significance defined at p < 0.05. Results: Overall, 35.1 % of the participants met the criteria for FA, with no significant sex difference (p = 0.19). Logistic regression analyses revealed that greater anxiety (OR = 1.078, p < 0.01) and stress (OR = 1.109, p < 0.01) were significant predictors of increased risk for FA, whereas greater self-control emerged as a protective factor (OR = 0.952, p < 0.01). Mediation analyses confirmed that self-control partially accounted for the effects of psychological distress on FA symptoms, with significant indirect effects observed for stress (beta = 0.025), anxiety (beta = 0.029), and depression (beta = 0.032). Moderation analysis revealed that self-control attenuated the effect of depression on FA symptoms (interaction term: B = 0.002, p < 0.01), although no moderating effects were found for anxiety or stress. Conclusions: This study highlights self-control as both a mechanism through which psychological distress contributes to food addiction and a protective factor that reduces its impact. Enhancing self-control may help mitigate addiction-related eating behaviors.