Eating behavior in Portuguese higher education students: The effect of social desirability

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to relate social desirability with eating behavior dimensions among higher education students in Portugal, and to assess the effect of social desirability on the association between pairs of eating behavior dimensions. Methods: Data from 266 higher education students (62.8% women) aged between 18 and 27 y were evaluated. Social desirability and several eating behavior dimensions (emotional and external eating, flexible and rigid restraint, binge eating, and eating self-efficacy) were assessed. Results: In both women and men, social desirability showed negative associations with emotional, external, and binge eating, and positive associations with eating self-efficacy. For the majority of the correlations, the control for social desirability led to a decrease in the strength of the association: Social desirability showed a greater effect on the associations between external and binge eating, external eating and eating self-efficacy, binge eating and eating self-efficacy, and emotional and external eating. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that social desirability should be considered when assessing the dimensions of eating behavior, namely eating self-efficacy and dimensions related to overeating.