Emotional overeating questionnaire: a validation study in Italian adults with obesity, overweight or normal weight

Purpose This study aimed at testing the validity and reliability of the Emotional Overeating Questionnaire (EOQ) in a sample of Italian adults with obesity, overweight or normal weight. Materials and methods Participants were 314 Italian adults (72.6% females, aged 18–76 years) with obesity (27.4%), overweight (21.3%), or normal weight (51.3%), who completed the EOQ and measures of binge eating, mental well-being, and mindful eating. Retesting was performed 4 weeks later in a randomly selected subsample of 60 participants. Factor structure of the EOQ was estimated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was tested with McDonald’s ω and ordinal α coefficients for internal consistency and Cohen’s weighted Kappa coefficient (Kw) for test–retest reliability. Results Based on CFA, the five negative emotional items formed one factor (EOQ-5) with good reliability (ω = 0.89; ordinal α = 0.88; Kw= 0.71), while the item referring to happiness was dropped. EOQ-5 scores were associated with higher binge eating, lower mental well-being, and lower mindful eating. A cut-off point of two identified individuals at risk for binge eating disorders with 75% sensitivity and 67% specificity. Negative emotional overeating was more frequent in women with obesity than women with normal weight and men with obesity. Conclusions EOQ-5 is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the frequency of emotional overeating at the Italian community-level. Level of evidence Level V, cross-sectional, descriptive study.