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Construct validity of the Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 938–943 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

Emotional eating, defined as eating in response to a range of negative emotions, is common in youths. Yet, there are few easily administered and well-validated methods to assess emotional eating in pediatric populations.

Objective:

The current study tested the construct validity of the Emotional Eating Scale (EES) Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) by examining its relationship to observed emotional eating at laboratory test meals.

Method:

A total of 151 youths (8–18 years) participated in two multi-item lunch buffet meals on separate days. They ate ad libitum after being instructed to ‘eat as much as you would at a normal meal’ or to ‘let yourself go and eat as much as you want’. State negative affect was assessed immediately before each meal. The EES-C was completed 3 months, on average, before the first test meal.

Results:

Among youths with high EES-C total scores, but not low EES-C scores, higher pre-meal state negative affect was related to greater total energy intake at both meals, with and without the inclusion of age, race, sex and body mass index (BMI) standard deviation as covariates (ps<0.03).

Discussion:

The EES-C demonstrates good construct validity for children and adolescents’ observed energy intake across laboratory test meals designed to capture both normal and disinhibited eating. Future research is required to evaluate the construct validity of the EES-C in the natural environment and the predictive validity of the EES-C longitudinally.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the families who participated in these studies and the staff of the metabolic kitchen at the NIH Clinical Center. We also thank Cara Olsen for her invaluable consultation regarding the statistical analyses for the current study. J Yanovski and M Kozlosky are Commissioned Officers in the United States Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services. MTK, SZY and JAY designed the study. AV and MTK conceived the hypothesis for this article and drafted the manuscript. MTK and JAY supervised the data collection. BEM, OLM, JMZ and MK collected the data. AV, MTK, LBS and LMR conducted the data analysis. All authors participated in the interpretation of the results and approved the final version of the manuscript. The funding organization had no role in design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; nor preparation or review of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. J A Yanovski: Research support: Intramural Research Program, NIH, grant 1ZIAHD000641 from the NICHD with supplemental funding from NIMHD.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section on Growth and Obesity, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA

    A Vannucci, M Tanofsky-Kraff, L B Shomaker, L M Ranzenhofer, B E Matheson, O L Cassidy, J M Zocca & J A Yanovski

  2. Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, MD, USA

    A Vannucci, M Tanofsky-Kraff, L B Shomaker, L M Ranzenhofer, B E Matheson & O L Cassidy

  3. Nutrition Department, Clinical Center, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA

    M Kozlosky

  4. Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA

    S Z Yanovski

Authors
  1. A Vannucci
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  2. M Tanofsky-Kraff
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  3. L B Shomaker
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  4. L M Ranzenhofer
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  5. B E Matheson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Tanofsky-Kraff.

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Vannucci, A., Tanofsky-Kraff, M., Shomaker, L. et al. Construct validity of the Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents. Int J Obes 36, 938–943 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.225

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