Psychometric properties of Turkish version of Dutch eating behavior questionnaire in adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years and assessment of the effect of age and gender on eating behaviours (tur)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Having a valid and reliable scale to detect eating disorders in adolescents is important for early diagnosis of individuals at risk of eating disorders and timely preventive interventions. Thus, the aim of the study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Turkish form of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (HYDA), which evaluates problematic eating behaviors including emotional eating, restrictive eating and external eating behaviors, in adolescents aged 12-18. METHODS: Three hundred and sixty-four adolescents between ages 12 -18 living in Istanbul province were included in this study. Sociodemographic Data Form, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and DEBQ were administered to the participants. RESULTS: The factorial structure of the questionnaire was acceptable and in accordance with the original questionnaire. Cronbach alpha of Restrictive Eating, Emotional Eating and External Eating were found as.89,.95,.86 respectively. Gender-based comparison of the average scores of subscales showed that, Restrictive and Emotional eating were significantly higher in girls. Aged-based comparison of the average scores of subscales indicated that Emotional and External Eating were significantly higher in adolescents between ages 15-18 while Restrictive Eating was higher in adolescents between ages 12-15. Finally, it was shown that a score of 1.95 and below in the restrictive eating subscale can identify potentially thin female adolescents in female adolescent, and a score of 2.05 and above can determine overweight adolescents in male adolescents. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that DEBQ was a reliable and valid tool in Turkish adolescents aged 12-18.

Keywords

• eating behavior
• adolescent
• reliability and validity