Assessing Appetitive Traits Among Chinese Young Adults Using the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire: Factor Structure, Gender Invariance and Latent Mean Differences, and Associations With BMI

Abstract

The current study examined the factor structure, measurement reliability, measurement invariance across genders, and latent gender mean differences, of a new Chinese translation of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (C-AEBQ) in a Chinese young adult sample ( n = 1,068, 52.57% women). The associations between the appetitive traits assessed by the AEBQ and body mass index were also explored. The previously established eight-factor model of the AEBQ was supported in the present sample. The C-AEBQ had strong measurement invariance between genders. Cronbach’s alpha estimates of the eight subscales of the C-AEBQ ranged from 0.76 to 0.97, and the test–retest reliability coefficients of the subscales ranged from 0.50 to 0.77. The C-AEBQ had adequate convergent and divergent validity, as supported by the theoretically expected correlations between C-AEBQ and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. Furthermore, Satiety Responsiveness, Slowness in Eating, and Food Fussiness were inversely associated with body mass index. Overall, the C-AEBQ appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument as a comprehensive measure for appetitive traits for Chinese young adults.

Classifying and characterizing Chinese young adults reporting picky eating: A latent profile analysis

“…Each item is scored on a six‐point Likert‐type scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree , with higher scores reflecting higher levels of satisfaction with food‐related life. In the current study, the Chinese version of the SWFL was used (He, Sun, et al, ). Cronbach's alpha in the current sample was 0.90.…”

“…Body mass index (BMI) ranged from 14.30 to 36.89 kg/m 2 , with a mean of 21.11 ( SD = 3.10). The current study is a part of an ongoing project, and several papers using the same sample have been published (He, Ellis, et al, ; He, Ma, Barthels, & Fan, ; He, Sun, & Fan, ; He, Sun, Zickgraf, Ellis, & Fan, ). See He, Sun, et al () for more specific information about the sampling procedures and sample characteristics.…”

“…The NIAS has demonstrated sound psychometric properties in US adult samples including college students (Zickgraf & Ellis, ). In the current study, the Chinese version of the NIAS was used, which was obtained by translating the English version (Zickgraf & Ellis, ) into Chinese based on the standardized procedures described in Brislin () (see He, Sun, et al, for more information). In the current study, the Cronbach's alpha for the total scale was 0.86, with 0.74 for PE, 0.73 for Appetite, and 0.86 for Fear.…”

“…The AEBQ measures four food‐approach traits (Hunger, Food Responsiveness, Emotional Over‐Eating, and Enjoyment of Food) and four food‐avoidance traits (Satiety Responsiveness, Emotional Under‐Eating, Food Fussiness, and Slowness in Eating). In the current study, the Chinese version of the AEBQ (He, Sun, et al, ) was used. Previous studies indicate that the both the English and Chinese versions of the AEBQ are psychometrically sound (He, Sun, et al, ; Hunot et al, ; Mallan et al, ; Zickgraf & Rigby, ).…”

Mapping and Predicting Patterns of Chinese Adolescents’ Food Preferences

“…First, although we used a national sample of adolescents, the sample size may not be large enough to generalize the findings to the general adolescent population. Second, the measurement of food preferences and nutrition knowledge may not be satisfying due to the small number of items; thus, we highly encourage future researchers to conduct similar studies by using more standardized and well-established instruments (e.g., the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire [55], the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire [56,57]). In reality, there is a much larger variety of food that adolescents consume in their daily lives.…”