Validation of the emotional eating scale adapted for use in children and adolescents (EES‐C)
- 29 January 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in International Journal of Eating Disorders
- Vol. 40 (3), 232-240
- https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20362
Abstract
Objective: Eating in response to negative emotions is associated with binge or loss of control (LOC) eating in adults. Although children report engaging in LOC eating, data on emotional eating among youth are limited. Method: We adapted the adult Emotional Eating Scale (Arnow et al., Int J Eat Disord, 18, 79–90, 1995) to be used with children and adolescents (EES‐C). Fifty‐nine overweight (BMI ≥ 95th percentile for age and sex) and 100 non‐overweight (BMI 5th–94th percentile) participants (mean age ± SD 14.3 ± 2.4 years) completed the EES‐C, and measures of recent LOC eating and general psychopathology. Test‐retest reliability was assessed in 64 children over a 3.4 ± 2.6 month interval. Results: A factor analysis generated three subscales: eating in response to anxiety, anger, and frustration (EES‐C‐AAF), depressive symptoms (EES‐C‐DEP), and feeling unsettled (EES‐C‐UNS). Internal consistency for the subscales was established; Cronbach's alphas for the EES‐C‐AAF, EES‐C‐DEP, and EES‐C‐UNS were 0.95, 0.92, and 0.83, respectively. The EES‐C had good convergent validity: children reporting recent LOC eating episodes scored higher on all subscales (p's < 0.05). The EES‐C‐AAF and EES‐C‐UNS subscales demonstrated good discriminant validity and the EES‐C‐DEP revealed adequate discriminant validity. Intra‐class correlation coefficients revealed good temporal stability for each subscale (EES‐C‐AAF = 0.59, EES‐C‐DEP = 0.74, EES‐C‐UNS = 0.66; p's < 0.001). Conclusion: The EES‐C has good convergent and discriminant validity, and test‐retest reliability for assessing emotional eating in children. Further investigation is required to clarify the role emotional eating may play in children's energy intake and body weight. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- Evaluating binge eating disorder in children: Development of the children's binge eating disorder scale (C‐BEDS)International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2006
- Binge Eating in Overweight Treatment-Seeking AdolescentsJournal of Pediatric Psychology, 2006
- The Longitudinal Structure of the Children's Depression Inventory: Testing a Latent Trait-State Model.Psychological Assessment, 2005
- Binge eating in children and adolescentsInternational Journal of Eating Disorders, 2003
- Binge antecedents in obese women with and without binge eating disorder.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2000
- Age of onset for binge eating and purging during late adolescence: A 4-year survival analysis.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1998
- The emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence.Psychological Bulletin, 1994
- Eating behavior in an adolescent populationInternational Journal of Eating Disorders, 1987
- Variations in the Pattern of Pubertal Changes in BoysArchives of Disease in Childhood, 1970
- Variations in pattern of pubertal changes in girls.Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1969