Validation and factor structure of the Greek version of the emotional eating scale in a sample of patients with binge eating disorder / Maria Karapatsia [and three others].

Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract : Background: Emotional eating has significant physical, psychological, and social consequences and it is highly associated with eating disorders. Οbjectives: The current study aimed to adapt and validate the Emotional Eating Scale (EES) in Greek and examine its factor structure and correlations with eating psychopathology and anthropometric measures. Methods: A sample of 160 participants (90% females) suffering from Binge Eating Disorder (BED), with a mean age of 40.7 years (SD = 11.5 years) and mean Body Mass Index of 37.5 kg/m2 (SD = 14.8 kg/m2) completed the EES and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire 6.0 (EDE-Q). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test how well the EES three-factor model fits the data. Results: The three-factor solution had an acceptable fit: anger/frustration, anxiety, and depression (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.81, 0.83, 0.70, respectively). All EES subscales were significantly and positively correlated with eating concern, shape concern, and weight concern, as well as with the global scoring of EDE-Q. The correlation between EES and BMI was positively significant. Age was significantly and negatively associated only with depression subscale. Conclusions: The results showed that the Greek adaptation of the EES is a reliable measure of emotional eating in people suffering from BED.