Students' Food Cravings: the Predictive Role of FamilyCommunication Orientation and Social Distress

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the direction ofconversation and students' food cravings, which made use of descriptive correlation type. Thestatistical population of the present study was all the male students of the first and secondsecondary schools in Mashhad in the academic year ۲۰۲۱-۲۰۲۲. In the present study, in order toincrease the accuracy of the research and for the initial diagnosis of obese students, ۱۱۵۰ studentswere selected by cluster sampling. In this regard, research questionnaires were designed anddistributed online. After examining the questions related to the subjects' height and weight,students in the ۹۵th percentile with a BMI higher than ۲۸ were considered obesity criteria. Finally,the data of ۳۲۰ questionnaires were analyzed. Cepeda-Benito et al.'s food craving questionnaire(۲۰۰۰) and Fitzpatrick and Ritchie's family communication patterns questionnaire (۱۹۹۷) wereutilized to collect data. Data analysis was done using Pearson's statistical test and SPSS۲۳software. The findings depicted that the orientation of conversation and listening had a negativeand significant relationship with the tendency of students’ food cravings. Moreover, a negative andsignificant relationship was obtained between social distress and craving for consumption. Theresults of the concurrent regression revealed that these two variables, simultaneously, explain ۴۹%of the variance of food cravings in students. It is concluded that attention to social factors andfamily communication patterns can play an important role in reducing food cravings. Therefore, itis suggested that the Education and Health Organization implement family skills training bycounselors and psychologists in planning and life skills classes for students.

Keywords:

food craving , communication orientation , students