From Awareness to Action: A Mixed-Methods Study on Mindful Eating Among Adolescents
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s10560-026-01163-w
- Dergi Adı: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), Index Islamicus, Psycinfo, Social Sciences Abstracts, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Education Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Sociology Database (ProQuest), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Although mindful eating may help adolescents become more aware of hunger, satiety, emotions, and food-related choices, little is known about how adolescents themselves understand mindful eating and what kinds of support they need to develop this awareness. Existing studies have mostly focused on general eating behaviors or adult samples, leaving limited evidence on adolescent-specific experiences and intervention needs. Therefore, the objective of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to explore adolescents' thoughts, experiences, barriers, and information sources regarding mindful eating and to evaluate a remote psychoeducational intervention developed from these qualitative findings. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 adolescents (aged 12-18). Most adolescents reported difficulty focusing on the eating and described being distracted during meals. Emotional, cognitive, physiological, relational, and economic factors shaped their eating behaviors. Negative emotions and dysfunctional thoughts related to eating were frequently reported. Most participants cited peers and social media as their primary information sources rather than official or expert-based resources. Informed by these findings, a six-week remote psychoeducational intervention was developed and implemented with a subsample (n = 20), randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The control group received no intervention. Quantitative results indicated a significant increase in mindful eating scores among the experimental group [t(9) = -72.50, p < .001], sustained at a two-week follow-up. No meaningful changes were observed in the control group [t(9) = -1.59, p = .146.]. These results underscore the value of developmentally tailored, remotely delivered mindfulness programs for improving adolescents' eating awareness.