The Dark Side of the Quarantine: Night Eating, Sleep Quality and the
Health Locus of Control in Women
Abstract
Aims: Staying at home for a prolonged period and the stress experienced
due to the COVID-19 quarantine may affect sleep quality and night eating
behaviours of individuals. This study aimed to identify the relationship
between night eating behaviour, sleep quality, and perceptions of health
locus of control in women during the pandemic. Methods: A questionnaire
form evaluating demographic information, nutritional habits, health
information and anthropometric measurements was conducted along with the
Night Eating Syndrome (NES) Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
(PUKI), and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (A) form. Results:
With a mean age of 33.0 ± 8.0 years 529 women participated in the study.
The mean night eating scale score was 14.44 ± 4.72 and the mean PUKI
score was 6.44 ± 2.90. Higher night eating scores were observed in
participants with a chance locus of control perception when compared to
participants with internal health locus of control perception (p
<.05). Obese participants have lower sleep quality compared to
normal and overweight participants (p <.05). It was also found
that night eating behaviours significantly predicted sleep quality (R =
.364, R2 =.133; p <.01) and explained about 13.3 % of the
total variance of sleep quality. Conclusion: In this study conducted
during the quarantine period, we showed that night eating behaviours
significantly predict sleep quality, and individuals with a high
perception of chance locus of control had a higher night eating scores
than individuals with high perception of internal health locus of
control.