The Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 and the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 in Taiwan: Factor structure and concurrent validity

I-Hua Chen; Po-Ching Huang; Yi-Ching Lin; Wan Ying Gan; Chia-Wei Fan; Wen-Chi Yang; Serene En Hui Tung; Wai Chuen Poon; Mark D Griffiths; Chung-Ying Lin

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1014447

The Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 and the modified Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 in Taiwan: Factor structure and concurrent validity

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 25:13:1014447. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1014447. eCollection 2022.

Authors

I-Hua Chen¹, Po-Ching Huang², Yi-Ching Lin³, Wan Ying Gan⁴, Chia-Wei Fan⁵, Wen-Chi Yang^{6

7

8}, Serene En Hui Tung⁹, Wai Chuen Poon¹⁰, Mark D Griffiths¹¹, Chung-Ying Lin^{2

12

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, China.
² Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
³ Department of Early Childhood and Family Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Occupational Therapy, AdventHealth University, Orlando, FL, United States.
⁶ Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, E-DA Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁷ Faculty of School of Medicine, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁸ Infinite Power Ltd., Co., Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁹ Division of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
¹⁰ Sunway University Business School, Sunway University, Selangor, Malaysia.
¹¹ International Gaming Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
¹² Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹³ Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
¹⁴ Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

Abstract

Introduction: The most widely used instruments to assess food addiction - the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) and its modified version (mYFAS 2.0) - have not been validated in a Taiwanese population. The present study compared the psychometric properties between the Taiwan versions of YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 among university students.

Methods: An online survey comprising the YFAS 2.0, mYFAS 2.0, Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were used to assess food addiction, self-stigma, and physical activity.

Results: All participants (n = 687; mean age = 24.00 years [SD ± 4.48 years]; 407 females [59.2%]) completed the entire survey at baseline and then completed the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 again three months later. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 both shared a similar single-factor solution. In addition, both the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 reported good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.90 and 0.89), good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.71 and 0.69), and good concurrent validity with the total scores being strongly associated with the WSSQ (r = 0.54 and 0.57; p < 0.01), and less strongly associated with BMI (r = 0.17 and 0.13; p < 0.01) and IPAQ-SF (r = 0.23 and 0.25; p < 0.01).

Discussion: Based on the findings, the Taiwan versions of the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 appear to be valid and reliable instruments assessing food addiction.

Keywords: Yale Food Addiction Scale; confirmatory factor analysis; food addiction; reliability; university students; validity; weight stigma.