A quantitative study on emotional appetite, mindful eating, and risky behaviors in male substance use disorder patients

Background and Objective: To evaluate the emotional appetite, eating awareness and risky behaviors of patients with substance use disorder. Method: A total of 292 individuals were enrolled in this study; 142 individuals with a substance use disorder and 150 healthy individuals. Our sample was male. The Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EAQ) and Risky Behaviors Scale (RBS) were used. p < .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed that the levels of smoking, emotional appetite, irregular eating habits, school dropout, antisocial behaviors and substance use increased in individuals with a substance use disorder (p < .05). In contrast, there was no significant difference in disinhibition, focus, eating control, eating discipline, mindfulness and interference values related to eating awareness (p > .05). Conclusions: This study highlights the effects of substance use disorders on emotional eating and risk behaviors, but not mindful eating. However, more studies are needed.