Eating Behaviour in the General Population: An Analysis of the Factor Structure of the German Version of the Three-Factor-Eating-Questionnaire (TFEQ) and Its Association with the Body Mass Index

Antje Löffler, Tobias Luck, Francisca S Then, Claudia Sikorski, Peter Kovacs, Yvonne Böttcher, Jana Breitfeld, Anke Tönjes, Annette Horstmann, Markus Löffler, Christoph Engel, Joachim Thiery, Arno Villringer, Michael Stumvoll, Steffi G Riedel-Heller, Antje Löffler, Tobias Luck, Francisca S Then, Claudia Sikorski, Peter Kovacs, Yvonne Böttcher, Jana Breitfeld, Anke Tönjes, Annette Horstmann, Markus Löffler, Christoph Engel, Joachim Thiery, Arno Villringer, Michael Stumvoll, Steffi G Riedel-Heller

Abstract

The Three-Factor-Eating-Questionnaire (TFEQ) is an established instrument to assess eating behaviour. Analysis of the TFEQ-factor structure was based on selected, convenient and clinical samples so far. Aims of this study were (I) to analyse the factor structure of the German version of the TFEQ and (II)--based on the refined factor structure--to examine the association between eating behaviour and the body mass index (BMI) in a general population sample of 3,144 middle-aged and older participants (40-79 years) of the ongoing population based cohort study of the Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases (LIFE Health Study). The factor structure was examined in a split-half analysis with both explorative and confirmatory factor analysis. Associations between TFEQ-scores and BMI values were tested with multiple regression analyses controlled for age, gender, and education. We found a three factor solution for the TFEQ with an 'uncontrolled eating', a 'cognitive restraint' and an 'emotional eating' domain including 29 of the original 51 TFEQ-items. Scores of the 'uncontrolled eating domain' showed the strongest correlation with BMI values (partial r = 0.26). Subjects with scores above the median in both 'uncontrolled eating' and 'emotional eating' showed the highest BMI values (mean = 29.41 kg/m²), subjects with scores below the median in all three domains showed the lowest BMI values (mean = 25.68 kg/m²; F = 72.074, p<0.001). Our findings suggest that the TFEQ is suitable to identify subjects with specific patterns of eating behaviour that are associated with higher BMI values. Such information may help health care professionals to develop and implement more tailored interventions for overweight and obese individuals.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1. Sample attrition and sample for…
Fig 1. Sample attrition and sample for the Three-Factor-Eating-Questionnaire (TFEQ) factor analysis.

References

    1. Mensink G, Schienkiewitz A, Haftenberger M, Lampert T, Ziese T, Scheidt-Nave C (2013) Übergewicht und Adipositas in Deutschland. Bundesgesundheitsbl. 56 (5–6): 786–794. Accessed 9 July 2014.
    1. WHO (2000) Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser 894: i–xii, 1–253.
    1. Effertz T (2013) Kosten von Adipositas in Deutschland. Available: . Accessed 30 September 2014.
    1. Renner B, Sproesser G, Strohbach S, Schupp HT (2012) Why we eat what we eat. The Eating Motivation Survey (TEMS). Appetite 59 (1): 117–128. Available: . 10.1016/j.appet.2012.04.004
    1. Stunkard AJ, Messick S (1985) The three-factor eating questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 29 (1): 71–83. Available: .
    1. Ganley RM (1988) Emotional eating and how it relates to dietary restraint, disinhibition, and perceived hunger. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 7 (5): 635–647. Available: 10.1002/1098-108X(198809)7:5<635::AID-EAT2260070507>;2-K.
    1. Hyland ME, Irvine SH, Thacker C, Dann PL, Dennis I (1989) Psychometric analysis of the Stunkard-Messick Eating Questionnaire (SMEQ) and Comparison with the dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). Current Psychology 8 (3): 228–233. Available: 10.1007/BF02686751.
    1. Karlsson J, Persson L-O, Sjoerstroem L, Sullivan M (2000) Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) in obese men and women. Results from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. Int J Obes 2000 (24): 1715–1725. Accessed 9 July 2014.
    1. Mazzeo SE, Aggen SH, Anderson C, Tozzi F, Bulik CM (2003) Investigating the structure of the eating inventory (three-factor eating questionnaire): A confirmatory approach. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 34 (2): 255–264. Available: 10.1002/eat.10180.
    1. Pudel V, Westenhöfer J (1989) Fragebogen zum Eßverhalten (FEV); Handanweisung. Göttingen: Verl. für Psychologie Hogrefe. 38 p.
    1. Hautzinger M (2012) Allgemeine Depressionsskala. ADS. Göttingen u.a: Hogrefe. Manual (60 S.); 20 Fragebogen ADS-L; p.
    1. Radloff LS (1977) The CES-D-Scale: A-Self-report-Depression Scale for Research in the General Population. Applied Psychological Measurement (1): 385–401. Accessed 1 October 2014.
    1. Stein J, Luppa M, Mahnke J, Weyerer S, Schomerus G, Riedel-Heller SG (2014) Depressionsscreening am Telefon mittels der Allgemeinen Depressionsskala (ADS). Psychiat Prax 41 (03): 135–141.
    1. Cronbach L (1951) Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika 16 (3): 297–334. Available: 10.1007/BF02310555.
    1. Hu L, Bentler PM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 6 (1): 1–55. Available: 10.1080/10705519909540118.
    1. Brauns H, Steinmann S (1999) Educational reform in France, West-Germany and the United Kingdom: Updating the CASMIN educational classification. ZUMA-Nachrichten 44: 7–44.
    1. French SA, Epstein LH, Jeffery RW, Blundell JE, Wardle J (2012) Eating behavior dimensions. Associations with energy intake and body weight. A review. Appetite 59 (2): 541–549. 10.1016/j.appet.2012.07.001
    1. Johnson F, Pratt M, Wardle J (2012) Dietary restraint and self-regulation in eating behavior. Int J Obes (Lond) 36 (5): 665–674.
    1. Westenhoefer J, Stunkard AJ, Pudel V (1999) Validation of the flexible and rigid control dimensions of dietary restraint. Int J Eat Disord 26 (1): 53–64.
    1. Stewart TM, Williamson DA, White MA (2002) Rigid vs. flexible dieting: association with eating disorder symptoms in nonobese women. Appetite 38 (1): 39–44. Available: .
    1. Timko CA, Perone J (2005) Rigid and flexible control of eating behavior in a college population. Eat Behav 6 (2): 119–125.
    1. Dietrich A, Federbusch MG, Grellmann C, Villringer A, Horstmann A (2014) Body weight status, eating behavior, sensitivity to reward/punishment, and gender: relationships and interdependencies. Frontiers in Psychology 5 (1073).
    1. Geliebter A, Aversa A (2003) Emotional eating in overweight, normal weight, and underweight individuals. Eat Behav 3 (4): 341–347.
    1. Koenders PG, van Strien T (2011) Emotional eating, rather than lifestyle behavior, drives weight gain in a prospective study in 1562 employees. J Occup Environ Med 53 (11): 1287–1293. 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31823078a2
    1. Horstmann A, Kovacs P, Kabisch S, Boettcher Y, Schloegl H, Tönjes A et al. (2013) Common Genetic Variation near MC4R Has a Sex-Specific Impact on Human Brain Structure and Eating Behavior. PLoS ONE 8 (9): e74362 EP. Available: . 10.1371/journal.pone.0074362

Source: PubMed

Patrocinadores e Colaboradores

Condições médicas

Intervenções de drogas

3
Se inscrever