Work

Anxiety as a mediator in the relationship of perceived stress and social support with emotional eating in female university teachers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Emotional eating is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor for both physical and psychological health, especially in academic settings where work-related stress and social demands are high. Despite its importance, the role of anxiety as a potential mediator in these associations has been scarcely examined in the Latin American context, and even less so among female university teachers. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationships among social support, perceived stress, and emotional eating, considering the mediating role of anxiety in female university teachers. METHODS: A total of 580 female teachers participated in the study and completed standardized instruments to assess anxiety, perceived social support, emotional eating, and perceived stress. Mediation analyses were conducted using a structural equation modeling approach with the Diagonally Weighted Least Squares estimator. RESULTS: Anxiety had a positive and significant direct effect on emotional eating (β = 0.285, p < .001), while social support exhibited a negative and significant direct effect (β = − 0.087, p = .032). Additionally, anxiety acted as a mediator, transmitting the effect of perceived stress (β = 0.056, p < .001) and social support (β = − 0.074, p < .001) on emotional eating. The final model explained 11.5% of the variance in emotional eating and 11.1% of the variance in anxiety. CONCLUSION: These findings provide novel evidence in a female and Latin American academic context, underscoring the importance of integrating emotional and social variables in the approach to eating behavior.

Source: BMC Public Health

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-25677-7