{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T17:52:56Z","timestamp":1785433976148,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775692800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004271","name":"Sapienza University of Rome","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004271","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02be6w209","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a clinical condition characterized by rigid and inflexible rules about consuming healthy food, potentially leading to harmful consequences for physical and mental health and significant impairment in major life domains. Overlap or independence between ON and other clinical entities, like other eating disorders (EDs) or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), still needs clarification. Objectives: This study aims to examine the overlap versus independence of core symptoms of ON from these two classes of disorders using a network approach. Methods: A group of 422 university students (71.8% females), with a mean age of 20.70 years (SD = 3.44), completed questionnaires assessing those symptoms. Results: Results revealed that no ON symptoms were nested within the OCD and ED clusters, and vice versa, thereby supporting their empirical distinctiveness. Although the symptoms were organised into distinct communities, ON symptoms were more strongly linked to EDs than to OCD. Bridge symptom analyses revealed that the nodes \u201cEmotional consequences due to healthy eating\u201d, \u201cWorry about healthy food\u201d, and \u201cObsessing\u201d exhibited the highest bridge strength connecting clusters of ON, EDs, and OCD symptoms. Conversely, the nodes \u201cFood safety\u201d and \u201cOrdering\u201d showed the lowest bridge strength, suggesting that these nodes played only a marginal role in linking ON, EDs, and OCD. Conclusions: From a nosological perspective, the findings provide empirical support for conceptualizing ON as a distinct yet symptomatically related condition within the broader spectrum of eating-related psychopathology, while acknowledging that definitive nosological classification requires further longitudinal and clinical research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18081179","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T07:48:07Z","timestamp":1775720887000},"page":"1179","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["A Combined Network Analysis for Orthorexia Nervosa, Obsessive Compulsive, and Eating Disorder Symptoms"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5245-1757","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Caterina","family":"Lombardo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1447-7347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia","family":"Cerolini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Human Sciences, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, 00193 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3930-7371","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Zagaria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Systems Medicine, Tor Vergata University of Rome, 00133 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6549-8976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mariacarolina","family":"Vacca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Human, Social and Health Sciences, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (UNICAS), 03043 Cassino, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachel F.","family":"Rodgers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Applied Psychology (APPEAR Team), Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatric Emergency & Acute Care, Lapeyronie Hospital, CHRU Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France"},{"name":"Unit\u00e9 de Recherche Clinique et d\u2019Innovation, H\u00f4pital du Cotentin, 50100 Cherbourg, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3695","DOI":"10.1007\/s40519-022-01512-5","article-title":"A Consensus Document on Definition and Diagnostic Criteria for Orthorexia Nervosa","volume":"27","author":"Donini","year":"2022","journal-title":"Eat Weight Disord."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1002\/eat.23654","article-title":"Associations between Orthorexia, Disordered Eating, and Obsessive\u2014Compulsive Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis","volume":"55","author":"Zagaria","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. 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