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Evaluating the psychometric properties of the mindful eating questionnaire: Turkish validity and reliability study

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Abstract

Mindful eating is a phenomenon to describe a nonjudgmental awareness of physical and emotional sensations while eating or being in a food-related environment. Nowadays, weight-related psychological and physiological health problems are gradually increasing. It is considered that mindful eating is one of the key components to struggle against dysfunctional eating patterns. The aim of the current study was to adapt the original five-factor structure of the MEQ and the abbreviated two-factor structure of the MEQ to Turkish culture and to determine its psychometric properties. The sample of the study was 362 university students aged between 18 and 27 (M = 20.82, SD = 3.83). Of the participants 249 (68.8%) were women, 110 (30.4%) were men, and three participants stated their sex as “other”. Participants were asked to fill the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), Intuitive Eating Scale (IES) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Results of confirmatory factor analysis showed an acceptable model fit for the correlated two-factor structure of the MEQ compared to its original five-factor structure. Internal consistency coefficient values for the overall MEQ and awareness and recognition subscales were .82, .71 and .82, respectively. The MEQ sub-scales’ scores were found to be associated with EDE-Q, IES, and BSI scores, confirming the validity of the scale. The Turkish version of the two-factor MEQ could be evaluated as a valid and reliable measurement to assess mindful eating for further research and would also provide support to cross-cultural research.

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  1. Faculty of Languages and History-Geography, Department of Psychology, Ankara University, PC: 06100, Ankara, Altindag, Turkey

    Burcu Kömürcü Akik

  2. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, TED University, PC: 06420, Ankara, Cankaya, Turkey

    İbrahim Yiğit

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Ankara University Ethics Committee, Registration No: 85434274–050.04.04/36590) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Kömürcü Akik, B., Yiğit, İ. Evaluating the psychometric properties of the mindful eating questionnaire: Turkish validity and reliability study. Curr Psychol 42, 12661–12670 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02502-z

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