Turkish validity and reliability of the Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale (FFaMES-TR) in adolescence.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale by Carrière et al. in a Turkish adolescent group.

METHODS

The study included 591 participants between 14 and 17 years old. The Cronbach's alpha (CA) coefficient was used to evaluate the internal consistency reliability and the test-retest method was applied. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the factor structure. The model obtained with EFA was evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis.

RESULTS

The total CA of the scale was 0.893, non-reactance CA 0.898, external awareness 0.808, non-judgment 0.862, internal awareness 0.772. The relationships between the total score and subscales in the first test and retest were found to be significant (P < 0.001). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.903. Bartlett's test of sphericity, the correlation level between the items was found to be sufficient for factor analysis (χ^2 = 5326.27, standard deviation = 231, P = 0.001; P < 0.05). The factor loadings of the items were between 0.511 and 0.885, and the factors explained 61.8% of the variance. It was observed that the model had an acceptable fit (χ/standard deviation 3.035, comparative fit index 0.933, Tucker-Lewis index 0.904, standardized root mean square error 0.057, and root mean square error of approximation 0.058. Because of applying EFA to the 29 questions in the scale, it was decided to remove 8 items from the final scale.

CONCLUSIONS

The Turkish version of the Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale is valid and reliable for assessing mindful eating behaviors among adolescents.