Disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) in type 1 diabetes (T1D) have been studied globally in different age groups. However, there is no validated diabetes-specific questionnaire in the Arabic language for the screening of DEBs. This study aimed to translate the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised scale (DEPS-R) into the Arabic language and study its psychometric properties in adolescents with T1D. We adopted the forward-backward procedure to translate the DEPS-R questionnaire into Arabic. The validation study enrolled 258 Saudi adolescents with T1D aged 12-18 years who completed the Arabic DEPS-R questionnaire and the EAT-26. The Arabic DEPS-R showed good construct validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). The factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure of DEPS-R which explains 54.4 % of the variance. In total, 30.6% of the participants are at high risk for DEBs (DEPS-R score ≥ 20). The psychometric properties of the Arabic DEPS-R are satisfactory, consistent with the original scale and translations in other languages. These results support the validity of the Arabic DEPS-R for assessment of DEBs in the T1D Arabic population.
Keywords: Arabic; DEPS-R; diabetes eating problem survey–revised; disordered eating behaviors; eating attitudes test; type 1 diabetes.