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Emotional overeating questionnaire: a validation study in Italian adults with obesity, overweight or normal weight

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed at testing the validity and reliability of the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire (EOQ) in a sample of Italian adults with obesity, overweight or normal weight.

Materials and methods

Participants were 314 Italian adults (72.6% females, aged 18–76 years) with obesity (27.4%), overweight (21.3%), or normal weight (51.3%), who completed the EOQ and measures of binge eating, mental well-being, and mindful eating. Retesting was performed 4 weeks later in a randomly selected subsample of 60 participants. Factor structure of the EOQ was estimated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was tested with McDonald’s ω and ordinal α coefficients for internal consistency and Cohen’s weighted Kappa coefficient (Kw) for test–retest reliability.

Results

Based on CFA, the five negative emotional items formed one factor (EOQ-5) with good reliability (ω = 0.89; ordinal α = 0.88; Kw= 0.71), while the item referring to happiness was dropped. EOQ-5 scores were associated with higher binge eating, lower mental well-being, and lower mindful eating. A cut-off point of two identified individuals at risk for binge eating disorders with 75% sensitivity and 67% specificity. Negative emotional overeating was more frequent in women with obesity than women with normal weight and men with obesity.

Conclusions

EOQ-5 is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the frequency of emotional overeating at the Italian community-level.

Level of evidence

Level V, cross-sectional, descriptive study.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

No funds were received for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat, 5, 40127, Bologna, Italy

    Giulia Casu & Paola Gremigni

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 300 George St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Robin M. Masheb

  3. VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA

    Robin M. Masheb

Authors
  1. Giulia Casu
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  2. Paola Gremigni
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  3. Robin M. Masheb
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Correspondence to Paola Gremigni.

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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Bologna Bioethical Committee, which approved the study protocol, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Casu, G., Gremigni, P. & Masheb, R.M. Emotional overeating questionnaire: a validation study in Italian adults with obesity, overweight or normal weight. Eat Weight Disord 25, 1747–1754 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-019-00821-6

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