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Validation of the Italian Yale Food Addiction Scale in postgraduate university students

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Abstract

Purpose

This study was aimed to examine the structural and construct validity of the Italian version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale in a multisite sample of postgraduate students.

Methods

Two hundred and fifty-six subjects (78.1% females) aged from 18 to 53 years (mean = 23.93, SD = 4.96) and attending different postgraduate university programs at multiple Italian universities completed the Italian YFAS, the Italian Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Italian Eating Attitudes Test-26 and the Italian Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) online through Qualtrics.

Results

Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed that the single-factor model of the Italian YFAS including all original items had adequate fit indexes (χ2252 = 454.183; p < 0.001; normed χ2 = 1.802; RMSEA = 0.056; 90% CI 0.048–0.076; CFI = 0.761; WRMR = 1.592). However, item analysis revealed that item#25 had zero variance (all subjects were assigned the same score after item dichotomization) and item#24 had a low factor loading, and were thus removed. Furthermore, item#10 and item#11 showed to be almost perfectly correlated (r = 0.998) and were thus parceled. The resulting 19-item single-factor model revealed a better fit to the data (χ2152 = 235.69; p < 0.001; normed χ2 = 1.556; RMSEA = 0.046; 90% CI 0.034–0.058; CFI = 0.858; WRMR = 1.236) and its internal consistency was acceptable (KR-20 = 0.72). Also, a single-factor model including the seven diagnostic symptoms was tested and showed adequate fit values (χ220 = 41.911; p < 0.003; normed χ2 = 2.09; RMSEA = 0.065; 90% CI 0.037–0.093; CFI = 0.946; WRMR = 1.132). Statistically significant and small-to-high correlations were found with all convergent measures, in particular with the BES.

Conclusion

The Italian 19-item YFAS resulted to be a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of food addiction in postgraduate students.

Level of evidence

Level V, descriptive study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, Via Luigi Cadorna, 90, Piancavallo, Oggebbio, VCO, Italy

    Gian Mauro Manzoni, Alessandro Rossi, Giada Pietrabissa, Giorgia Varallo, Enrico Molinari & Gianluca Castelnuovo

  2. Faculty of Psychology, eCampus University, Novedrate, Como, Italy

    Gian Mauro Manzoni

  3. Department of Psychology, Catholic University, Milan, Italy

    Giada Pietrabissa, Enrico Molinari & Gianluca Castelnuovo

  4. Interdepartmental Center for Family Research, Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, Section of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Padua, Italy

    Alessandro Rossi

  5. Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

    Eleonora Poggiogalle & Lorenzo Maria Donini

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, University Alma mater, Bologna, Italy

    Giulietta Tarrini & Nazario Melchionda

  7. Center for Eating Disorders, S. Rossore Clinic, Pisa, Italy

    Carla Piccione

  8. Center for Eating Disorders, ASL Tuscany Nord West, Pisa, Italy

    Giovanni Gravina

  9. Center for Eating Disorders, ASL5 West Friuli, Pordenone, Italy

    Gianluigi Luxardi

  10. Eating and Weight Disorders Centre, Private Hospital Salus, Ferrara, Italy

    Emilia Manzato

  11. Gruber Center for Eating Disorders, Bologna, Italy

    Romana Schumann

  12. Department of Human Sciences, European University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Marco Innamorati, Claudio Imperatori & Mariantonietta Fabbricatore

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  1. Gian Mauro Manzoni
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  2. Alessandro Rossi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gian Mauro Manzoni.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study prior to accessing the survey.

Additional information

This article is part of the topical collection on Food Addiction.

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Manzoni, G.M., Rossi, A., Pietrabissa, G. et al. Validation of the Italian Yale Food Addiction Scale in postgraduate university students. Eat Weight Disord 23, 167–176 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0495-0

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