Moderating Role of Self-Esteem in the relationship between Orthorexia Nervosa and Social Appearance Anxiety among Young Women in Pakistan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of social appearance anxiety and self-esteem in triggering the onset of orthorexia nervosa among young women. We intended to shed some light on the potential contributors to orthorexia nervosa within Pakistani Population by focusing on these psychological factors. In this research, 300 married and unmarried young women were taken as participants who were aged between 18 – 35 years from Wah Cantt and Islamabad. Teruel Orthorexia Nervosa (TOS), Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS), and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were applied. Descriptive Analysis, Pearson Correlation, T-test, and Mediation were calculated. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between orthorexia nervosa and healthy orthorexia nervosa, as well as between orthorexia nervosa and social appearance anxiety. There is also a non-significant difference that appears on self-esteem and social appearance anxiety scales. This proves that there are non-significant differences on orthorexia nervosa by self-esteem and social appearance anxiety i.e., there is no real effect of SAA and SE on orthorexia nervosa. Process model 4 was used to test the mediation analysis, in which results reveal that social appearance anxiety and orthorexia nervosa have direct effect (B = .16, p = .00) which is significant.

Keywords: Orthorexia Nervosa, Social Appearance Anxiety, Self-esteem, Young Women, Pakistan