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Multidimensional item Response theory to assess the psychometric properties of persian version of dutch eating behavior questionnaire (DEBQ) in university students

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Abstract

The Multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) is a powerful modeling approach which could provide an ideal foundation for health psychologists to improve their survey-development and assessment. The current study aimed to illustrate the advantages of applying the MIRT models in investigating psychometric quality of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). The Persian version of DEBQ questionnaire was administered to a sample of 509 Iranian university students. The three-factor MIRT model was applied to model the observed scores for each item of the DEBQ as a probability function of the individual’s latent traits (here eating behaviors) while taking the correlation among questionnaire’s dimensions into account. Strength of fit of MIRT model was reported based on multiple indices and individual items were illustrate in detail through item characteristic curves. Item information curves were also described the amount of information carried by different items. The goodness of fit indices which extracted from the result of MIRT model indicated acceptable structural validity of DEBQ with three factor to support for the dominant three-dimensional structure. Item discrimination parameters ranged from 0.56 to 3.39, 0.77 to 3.56 and 0.67 to 2.14 for restrained eating, emotional eating, and external eating, respectively. Moreover, items 4, item 23 and item 30 provided the least information in restrained, emotional, and external eating subscales.

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Data availability

The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Code for data cleaning and analysis are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This article was extracted from Mohadesh Sarbaranian’s Master of sciences thesis. Editorial assistance by the University's Research Consultation Center is acknowledged.

Funding

This work was supported financially by a Grant Number 98–01-01–21666 from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Research Council. We also declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biostatistics, Medical School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Marziyeh Doostfatemeh, Elham Haem & Mohadeseh Sarbaraninan

  2. Department of Phytopharmaceuticals (Traditional Pharmacy), School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Ajdari Tafti Mehdi

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  1. Marziyeh Doostfatemeh
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  2. Elham Haem
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  3. Mohadeseh Sarbaraninan
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  4. Ajdari Tafti Mehdi
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Correspondence to Elham Haem.

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The study was approved by the local ethics committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. (IR.SUMS.REC.1399.1040).

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Doostfatemeh, M., Haem, E., Sarbaraninan, M. et al. Multidimensional item Response theory to assess the psychometric properties of persian version of dutch eating behavior questionnaire (DEBQ) in university students. Curr Psychol 42, 13400–13410 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02608-4

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