Validity of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire and Its Relationship with Parent-Reported Eating Behaviors among Adolescents in Portugal

Abstract

The Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ) is a tool developed in the UK, used in the investigation of appetitive traits in adults and adolescents, and later validated in a number of countries. To date, the validity of the AEBQ has not been tested on Portuguese-speaking popula-tions. The aim of this study was to validate the AEBQ in a sample of Portuguese adolescents. Participants were 4483 13-year-olds enrolled in the population-based cohort study Generation XXI. Appetitive traits were self-reported by adolescents through the AEBQ and parents also reported adolescent eating behaviors. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Construct validity was tested through correlations between AEBQ subscales and parent-reported eating behaviors, and linear regressions between AEBQ subscales and adolescent body mass index z-scores were performed. Adequate internal consistency and several associations with parent-reported eating behaviors and measured adolescent body mass index z-scores were found. This study supports the validity of a five-factor AEBQ (Food Responsiveness and Enjoyment of Food; Slowness in Eating; Food Fussiness; Emotional Over- and Undereating) to measure appetitive traits among Portuguese adolescents and provides a convenient and easy-to-use tool to be used in large-scale research.

The Arabic Version of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire among Saudi Population: Translation and Validation

“…The original 8-factor model was adapted by (China [ 8 ], Australia [ 9 ], and the original development study [ 15 ]). On the contrary, AEBQ was validated among Portuguese adolescents and yielded 5-factor model with Food responsiveness and Enjoyment of Food combined into one factor, as appearing in our results [ 18 ].…”

“…Following the development of the AEBQ, several studies have examined its validity in different populations (Australia, United States, United Kingdome, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, China, Mexico, and Canada). Of these studies, several were done on adolescents (United Kingdom [ 16 ], Poland [ 17 ], Portugal [ 18 ]) others were implemented on young adults (Australia [ 9 ], China [ 8 ]). Most studies supported the findings that AEBQ is a reliable and valid measure of appetitive traits in adults [ 9 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Patterns of Eating Behavior among 13-Year-Old Adolescents and Associated Factors: Findings from the Generation XXI Birth Cohort

“…Internal consistency was adequate for all AEBQ subscales (Cronbach's α ranging from 0.66 to 0.88) [13]. In Portugal, Warkentin et al (2022) [30] validated the AEBQ among 13-year-old adolescents from the Generation XXI cohort. The adapted version of the AEBQ contains 30 items and showed a different factor structure (5 subscales, namely Food responsiveness/Enjoyment of food, Emotional overeating, Slowness in eating, Food fussiness, and Emotional undereating) and an adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α ranging from 0.77 to 0.89).…”

“…The AEBQ was originally developed by Hunot-Alexander et al (2019) [13] among adolescents in the UK and was based on the widely used Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) [29]. It contains 35 items, originally divided into eight subscales, conceptually grouped into food approach and food avoidance behaviors [13,29,30].…”

Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Sakata Eating Behavior Scale short form and preliminary analysis of the factors related to the score of the scale

“…For example, the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ) has been used all over the world. AEBQ is currently validated in Saudi, Poland, Portugal and China (8)(9)(10)(11). The AEBQ has 35 items, using a five-point Likert scale involving eight subscales, which can be further divided into two dimensions of food approach and food avoidance behavior.…”