Reliability and validity of the dutch eating behavior questionnaire in an online format for university students from low-income regions in a pandemic context: A 24 hour MESYN study

Millena Vaz de Carvalho; Antonio Gibran de Almeida Cardoso; Shirley Cunha Feuerstein; Rosana Rodrigues de Sousa; Tatiana Sadalla Collese; Francisco Leonardo Torres-Leal; Marcus Vinicius Nascimento-Ferreira; Augusto Cesar Ferreira De Moraes

doi:10.3389/fepid.2022.1036631

Reliability and validity of the dutch eating behavior questionnaire in an online format for university students from low-income regions in a pandemic context: A 24 hour MESYN study

Front Epidemiol. 2023 Jan 11:2:1036631. doi: 10.3389/fepid.2022.1036631. eCollection 2022.

Affiliations

¹ Health, Physical Activity and Behavior Research (HEALTHY-BRA) Group, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Miracema do Tocantins, Brazil.
² Instituto de Ensino Superior do Sul do Maranhão (IESMA/UNISULMA), Imperatriz, Brazil.
³ Metabolic Diseases, Exercise and Nutrition Research Group (DOMEN), Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Centre for Health Sciences, Federal University of Piaui, Teresina, Brazil.
⁴ School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ São Camilo University Center, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁶ Youth/Child Cardiovascular Risk and Environmental (YCARE) Research Group, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁷ The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Campus, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Science, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, Austin, TX, United States.

Abstract

Objective: To test the reliability and validity of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) in an online format in university students from low-income regions.

Methods: We applied the questionnaire to a sample of 195 and 117 university students from a low-income region (Gini index of 0.56) to study validity and reliability, respectively. The DEBQ consists of 33 items on eating behavior in three dimensions/factors: emotional eating, restrained eating and external eating. The questionnaire was administered twice at 2-week intervals. We tested the reliability via temporal stability and internal consistency and construct validity via exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results: For reliability, we identified an acceptable Spearman correlation coefficient (rho > 0.30 and p < 0.05) and Cronbach's alpha (α ≥ 0.70) for all DEBQ items. In the exploratory analysis, we identified 6 factors representing a mix of original and additional factors, with an explained variance of 69.1%. In the confirmatory analysis with structural equation modeling, we observed better global model adjustment for the 6-factor model with the Tucker-Lewis index and comparative fit index closer to one, as well as root mean square error of approximation closer to zero than the original (3-factor) model. Using generalized structural equation modeling, we also observed a better fit in latent class modeling for the 6-factor model (AIC: 16990.67; BIC. 17874.38) than for the 3-factor model (AIC: 17904.09; BIC: 18342.67).

Conclusion: The online format of the DEBQ has acceptable reliability and validity for measuring eating behavior in university students from low-income regions.

Keywords: adults; emotional eating; external eating; psychometric properties; questionnaire; reliability study; restrained eating.

Grants and funding

The 24h-MESYN study design, data collection and analysis were supported by the Brazilian Government from National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq, No. 402391/2021-7) and by the Federal University of Tocantins (PROPESQ Universal No. 088/2022). MVNF received a postdoctoral scholarship from Programa Nacional de Pós-Doutorado/Capes (PNPD/CAPES). ACFM was supported by UTHealth School of Public Health Start-up Funding.