Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18 (TFEQ-R18) Spanish Version: Factor Structure Analysis among Normal Weight and Overweight Adults

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the construct validity of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) Revised-18, an instrument designed to measure: Uncontrolled Eating, Emotional Eating and Cognitive Restraint, in a sample of Mexican adults of different weights. 342 man and women, with age range 19-79 years old (M=40), were recruited. TFEQ was emailed to the participants who earlier had their weight and height measured. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was applied to examine TFEQ structure. The original three factor structure was corroborated, with nine items loading high on Uncontrolled Eating factor, three on Emotional Eating and four out of the original six on Cognitive Restraint. Two items were excluded due to low item-total correlations. Higher levels of Cognitive Restraint were associated with higher BMI (r=.13, p < .05), we found no connection between Uncontrolled Eating or Emotional Eating and body weight. Our findings suggest that the abbreviated TFEQ (16 items), is a psychometrically valid measure, and can be used to evaluate the tendencies of Cognitive Restraint, Uncontrolled Eating and Emotional Eating in the population of Mexican adults with different body weights.