Development and Validation of the Adaptive Eating Scale: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Psychology
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Adaptive eating, an internally regulated and enjoyable eating pattern, is gaining interest.
• No validated scale currently exists to measure adaptive eating in US college students.
• Developing a reliable scale is crucial for understanding and promoting healthy eating behaviors in this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and psychometrically evaluate the Adaptive Eating Scale (AES) for US college students aged 18 years and older.
• To assess the reliability and validity of the AES in a diverse student population.
• To establish a tool for measuring adaptive eating constructs.

Main Methods:

• A 37-item AES was developed and administered to 849 diverse US university students.
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to determine the scale's factor structure.
• The AES was correlated with measures of intuitive eating, mental health, diet, and anthropometrics.

Main Results:

• EFA identified 17 items across four factors: gentle nutrition (GN), unpreoccupied by food cravings (UBFC), enjoyment of food (EOF), and honoring hunger (HH), explaining 63.1% of variance.
• CFA confirmed a bifactor model with excellent fit, comprising one global factor and four orthogonal factors (GN, UBFC, EOF, HH).
• GN, EOF, and HH demonstrated reliability and significant associations with intuitive eating, emotional eating, weight status, and mental health.

Conclusions:

• The Adaptive Eating Scale (AES) is a psychometrically sound, multidimensional measure for assessing adaptive eating in college students.
• The AES includes a general adaptive eating factor and specific factors for GN, EOF, and HH.
• This validated scale can facilitate further research into adaptive eating behaviors and their correlates in young adults.