Graduation Date

Spring 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Master of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, option Academic Research

Committee Chair Name

Dr. William Reynolds

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Second Committee Member Name

Dr. Christopher Aberson

Second Committee Member Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Third Committee Member Name

Dr. Carrie Aigner

Third Committee Member Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Food, Addiction, Binge, Eating, Binging, Dependence, Sugar, Fat, Salt, Carbohydrates, Addictive

Subject Categories

Psychology

Abstract

Current research shows that foods high in sugar, salt, and fat can illicit addictive responses (Pursey, Stanwell, Gearhardt, Collins, & Burrows, 2014). Although measures of overeating pathology exist, only a few are dedicated to food addiction. Two of these measures are the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS; Gearhardt, Corbin, & Brownell, 2009b) and the Eating Behaviors Questionnaire (EBQ; Merlo, Klingman, Malasanos, & Silverstein, 2009). Given the shortage of food addiction measures, the Humboldt Food Addiction Questionnaire (HFAQ) was developed to supplement the need for additional tools. Recruited from both a university and online, 626 participants completed this study. Reliability of the HFAQ was excellent at .95. Strong relationships were found between the HFAQ and two other measures of food addiction, the YFAS and EBQ. A measure of eating pathology, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and a measure of impulsivity, the Delaying Gratification Inventory (DGI short form with food subscale) were used to measure convergent validity. There was a moderate relationship between the HFAQ and the two convergent measures. Discriminant validity was also established between the HFAQ and a measure of alcohol and drug use. An exploratory factor analysis showed that DSM substance criteria were present within a five-factor solution.

Citation Style

APA

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