Factor analysis and cut-off score of the 26-item eating attitudes test in a Greek sample

Analysis of the EAT-26 in a non-clinical sample

“…First, the same three items ('Feel that others would prefer if I ate more', 'Other people think that I am too thin', and 'Feel that others pressure me to eat') are commonly grouped into factors labeled 'Perceived social pressure to eat' [12,14], 'Others' perceptions' [13], 'Important others' [7], or simply 'Social pressure' [6,9]. Second, some items ('Aware of the calorie content of foods that I eat', 'Particularly avoid food with a high carbohydrate content', 'Avoid foods with sugar in them', and 'Eat diet foods') are either grouped into an independent factor labeled 'Awareness of food content' [10,11] or are part of the 'Dieting factor' [6,7,9,13]. Third, the 'Food preoccupation' factor is separated from the 'Bulimia factor' [10,13,14]; however, the items that comprise these factors vary from study to study [7,9].…”

“…Second, some items ('Aware of the calorie content of foods that I eat', 'Particularly avoid food with a high carbohydrate content', 'Avoid foods with sugar in them', and 'Eat diet foods') are either grouped into an independent factor labeled 'Awareness of food content' [10,11] or are part of the 'Dieting factor' [6,7,9,13]. Third, the 'Food preoccupation' factor is separated from the 'Bulimia factor' [10,13,14]; however, the items that comprise these factors vary from study to study [7,9]. This may be due to the non-clinical character of the sample, since two out of three items from the bulimia scale concern purging behaviors that are very uncommon in non-clinical population, while the third item concerns binge eating.…”

“…Therefore, different versions of the EAT exist in the literature: comprising three factors [6][7][8], four factors [9][10][11], five factors [12,13] or seven factors [14]. Second, researchers often encounter items that do not load on any factor [7,8], items that cross-load on other scales [13], or items that weave between scales [10]. Third, the intercorrelations between distinguished factors are extremely high [11], which could be interpreted in terms of a general abnormal eating habits factor whose reliability estimates have been reported in numerous studies [15].…”

Weight Pressures and Eating Disorder Symptoms among Adolescent Female Gymnasts of Different Performance Levels in Greece

“…The questionnaire consists of three sub-scales: (a) Dieting (being preoccupied with thinness and avoiding fattening foods), (b) Bulimia and Food Preoccupation (thinking about food and bulimic symptomatology) and (c) Oral Control (self-control of eating and perceived pressures from others to gain weight) [ 69 ]. A previous study of the validity and reliability of the Greek version of the questionnaire demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of the inventory for Greece’s athletic population [ 70 ]. Although EAT-26 questionnaire is not a diagnostic tool for eating disorders, it has been found to be particularly effective in detecting possible cases of eating disorders, suggesting further investigation for those with a score equal to or higher than 20.…”

Psychometric Properties of The 26-Item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26): An Application of Rasch Analysis

“…The nal seven items belong to the "Oral control" factor which re ects the tendency toward self-control of eating (5). Over time, the EAT-26 factor structure has changed to include a three factor, four factor, ve factor, and seven factor structure (8, 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16). Failure to replicate the factor structure of the EAT-26 may be due to the use of the EAT-26 within samples different from the one it was originally developed (a clinical sample of females with AN) (17).…”