The Relationship between Experimental Avoidance and Eating Disorders among Students of Ahvaz Jundishapour University of Medical Science, Ahvaz, Iran

Eating disorder is the third most common psychiatric disorder among young people. One of the factors that are involved in the development of eating disorders can be named as experimental avoidance. So this study was to investigate the relationship between experimental avoidance and eating disorders among students of Ahvaz Jundishapour University of Medical Science. Subjects and In this descriptive-analytical study, 400 students were selected by using cluster random sampling during the academic year 2014-2015 of whom 272 were girls and 128 were boys. Eating disorders (EAT-26), acceptance and action(AAQ-II) questionnaires were completed by male and female students to investigate the relationship between experimental avoidance and eating disorders. Finally, data were analyzed using SPSS software. This study showed a positive significant relationship between experimental avoidance and eating disorders (P=0.0001, r=0.17). But, individually positive correlation between experimental avoidance and eating disorders was achieved in male and female students (P=0.044, r=0.18 and, P=0.0001, r=0.17 respectively). The results of this study revealed that experimental avoidance of students increased in correlation with increase in eating disorder symptoms. This correlation is more clearly reflected among female students. ►Please cite this paper as: Makvandi M, Makvandi B. The Relationship between Experimental Avoidance and Eating Disorders in Ahvaz Jundishapour University of Medical Science, Ahvaz, Iran. Jundishapur Sci Med J 2016;14(6):681-689