Examining the validity and consistency of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire-Español (AEBQ-Esp) and its relationship to BMI in a Mexican population

Abstract

Purpose Appetitive traits in adults and their associations with weight can be measured using the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ). The aim of this study was to confirm the factor structure of the Spanish AEBQ (AEBQ-Esp) in a Mexican sample and explore associations between the eight traits with body mass index (BMI). Method A sample of 1023 adults, mean age of 36.8 ± 12.8 years, was recruited from Guadalajara, Mexico. Researchers weighed and measured participants, and they completed the AEBQ-Esp either online or in paper format and reported sociodemographic data. To test two alternative factor structures (eight factors including Hunger; seven factors excluding Hunger), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used. Internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha; test–retest reliability was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients. Multivariate linear regressions were used to test for associations between the AEBQ subscales and BMI, adjusted for age, sex, format of AEBQ responses, education, marital and employment status. Results A seven-factor structure was the best model fit using CFA, excluding the Hunger subscale but similar to the original AEBQ. Internal reliability was good for all subscales (Cronbach’s α = 0.70–0.86), and the intra-class correlation coefficient (0.70–0.91) reflected good test–retest reliability. In the fully adjusted models, Satiety Responsiveness [β = − 0.61; (− 1.01, − 0.21)] and Slowness in Eating [β = − 0.70; (− 1.01, − 0.39)] were negatively associated with BMI, and Emotional Over-Eating [β = 0.94; (0.62, 1.27)] was positively associated with BMI. Conclusions The AEBQ-Esp (excluding Hunger) appears to be a valid and reliable psychometric questionnaire for measuring appetitive traits in a Mexican Spanish-speaking population. Some traits appear to be associated with BMI in adulthood and warrant further exploration. Level of evidence Level III evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case–control analytic studies. Although this was just an observational study, it was well designed and provided new evidence.

Perceived Diet Quality, Eating Behaviour, and Lifestyle Changes in a Mexican Population with Internet Access during Confinement for the COVID-19 Pandemic: ESCAN-COVID19Mx Survey

“…The results from this study showed no associations with either emotional over or undereating and BMI. These results differ with other publications that show that emotional overeating is positively associated with BMI in adult populations [12,15,30].…”

“…Using the AEBQ-Esp, we measured the participants' emotional overeating and emotional undereating during the COVID-19 confinement. During the validation of the AEBQ tool in Mexicans prior to confinement, the mean of eating more through emotions was 2.54 (± 0.87) and eating less through emotions was 2.79 (SD: 0.88) [15]. The results from this study showed no associations with either emotional over or undereating and BMI.…”

“…Emotional eating. We used the Spanish version of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ-Esp) validated in Mexican adults from the original AEBQ to assess emotional eating [15]. We did not assess perceived emotional eating prior to confinement, as appetitive traits have shown continuity and stability through time [16].…”

Concurrent Validity of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire in a Canadian Sample

“…As described by Mallan et al, these differences may be attributed to the differences in sample characteristics. These similar findings were also found in other validation studies conducted in adolescents ( Hunot-Alexander et al, 2019 ) and Mexican adults ( Hunot-Alexander et al, 2021a ). Future studies require recruiting a diverse, gender balanced sample to continue to test the validity of the 7-factor versus the original 8-factor AEBQ among adult, especially as cultural differences may exist when describing relationships between eating behaviors and BMI ( He et al, 2021 ).…”

“…To date, AEBQ validation studies have been limited to five studies with adult samples (Australia, United States, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Canada) ( Mallan et al, 2017 ; Hristova, 2019 ; Zickgraf and Rigby, 2019 ; Hunot-Alexander et al, 2021a ; Jacob et al, 2021 ), one with younger adults, and three with adolescent samples (Chinese, United Kingdom, Polish) ( Hunot-Alexander et al, 2019 ; Guzek et al, 2020 ; He et al, 2021 ). To our knowledge, the AEBQ has not been validated in an English Canadian sample.…”