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Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) and modified YFAS 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0): Rasch analysis and differential item functioning

Saffari M 1 , Fan CW 2 , Chang YL 3 , Huang PC 4 , Tung SEH 5 , Poon WC 6 Show all authors , Lin CC 7 , Yang WC 8 , Lin CY 9 , Potenza MN 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Health Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • 2 Department of Occupational Therapy, AdventHealth University, Orlando, FL, USA
  • 3 Department of Family Medicine, Cardinal Tien Hospital, New Taipei, Taiwan
  • 4 Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Rd., East Dist., Tainan, 701401, Taiwan
  • 5 Division of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, 57000, Malaysia
  • 6 Sunway Business School, Sunway University, No. 5, Jalan Universiti, 47500, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 8 Infinite Power, Lt. Co., No. 38, Yonghe 1st St., Renwu Dist., Kaohsiung, 814, Taiwan. wenchi890079@gmail.com
  • 9 Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Rd., East Dist., Tainan, 701401, Taiwan. cylin36933@gmail.com
  • 10 Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
J Eat Disord, 2022 Nov 28;10(1):185.
PMID: 36443860 DOI: 10.1186/s40337-022-00708-5

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Food addiction (FA) is a prevalent concern that may manifest as poorly controlled food consumption and promote overweight/obesity. Thus, having a well-established instrument for assessment may facilitate better prevention and treatment. The current study investigated the psychometric properties of two common measures of FA (i.e., the Yale Food Addiction Scale [YFAS] 2.0 and its modified version, mYFAS 2.0) using a robust statistical analysis (Rasch model).

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the scales were sent to 974 students studying in higher education (60% females) in Taiwan through online media including email and social networks. Rasch modeling was used to assess dimensionality, difficulty level, and item misfit and hierarchy. Differential item functioning (DIF) was performed to examine consistency of the items across gender and weight status.

RESULTS: Rasch analysis indicated 3 items of the 35 items belonging to the YFAS 2.0 (8.6%) and none belonging to the mYFAS 2.0 were misfit. Unidimensionality and construct validity of both scales were supported by appropriate goodness-of-fit for diagnostic criteria. The person separation was 3.14 (reliability = 0.91) for the YFAS 2.0 and 2.17 (reliability = 0.82) for mYFAS 2.0, indicating the scales could distinguish participants into more than 3 strata. Only one substantial DIF was found for diagnostic criteria of "Failure to fulfill major role obligation" in the YFAS 2.0 across gender.

CONCLUSION: According to Rasch modeling, both the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 have acceptable construct validity in Chinese-speaking youth. Scoring methods using either diagnostic criteria or symptom counts for both the YFAS 2.0 and mYFAS 2.0 are supported by the present Rasch findings.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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