Validation of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) in a sample of Spanish women

Abstract

The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) was developed to measure eating styles that may contribute to or attenuate the development of overweight. It comprises three scales that measure emotional, external and restrained eating. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the internal structure of the Spanish version of the DEBQ using updated psychometric techniques in a sample of women. A sample of 647 Spanish females answered the questionnaire. Both exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the factor structure of the DEBQ. Reliabilities were estimated with Cronbach's alpha. The relations between the subscales of the DEBQ and age, BMI, and scores on the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT) and the Restrained Scale-Revised (RS) were computed with Pearson correlations. Results showed that the internal structure was similar to the theoretical proposal, although items associated with boredom and idleness presented cross-loading problems. The reliability estimates were satisfactory. The Emotional and External Eating factors correlated with the BMI, and External Eating was negatively correlated with age. The Restraint factor of the DEBQ showed significant relationships with scales of the EAT-26 and RS. The dimensional validity of the DEBQ is reproduced in a Spanish sample, and the DEBQ seems to be an effective instrument for research in Spanish females. Minor modifications to the DEBQ are recommended.

Keywords: DEBQ; Eating behavior; Eating disorders; Obesity; Psychometrics.