The Meal Pattern Questionnaire: A psychometric evaluation using the Eating Disorder Examination.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Clinical Psychology
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Meal patterns are crucial in obesity and eating disorder treatments.
• Current valid methods like momentary assessment and eating diaries can be impractical for routine clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a self-report instrument for measuring meal patterns.
• To develop a user-friendly tool for assessing eating behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Adapted the 'Pattern of eating' item from the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) interview into a self-report format.
• Named the new instrument the Meal Patterns Questionnaire (MPQ).
• Validated the MPQ against the EDE in student (n=105) and obese (n=111) samples.

Main Results:

• MPQ and EDE individual items showed moderate to high correlations (rho=.63-.89) across both samples.
• Total scores demonstrated high correlations (rho=.87/.74) with no significant differences.
• Only two items in the obese sample showed significant differences between MPQ and EDE.

Conclusions:

• The MPQ is a valid instrument for capturing overall eating patterns.
• It serves as a practical tool for clinical practice and research when extensive methods are not feasible.
• Further validation in diverse populations and with ecological assessment methods is recommended.