Validation of the Italian Yale Food Addiction Scale in postgraduate university students

Purpose This study was aimed to examine the structural and construct validity of the Italian version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale in a multisite sample of postgraduate students. Methods Two hundred and fifty-six subjects (78.1% females) aged from 18 to 53 years (mean = 23.93, SD = 4.96) and attending different postgraduate university programs at multiple Italian universities completed the Italian YFAS, the Italian Binge Eating Scale (BES), the Italian Eating Attitudes Test-26 and the Italian Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) online through Qualtrics. Results Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed that the single-factor model of the Italian YFAS including all original items had adequate fit indexes (chi(2)252 = 454.183; p < 0.001; normed chi(2) = 1.802; RMSEA = 0.056; 90% CI 0.048-0.076; CFI = 0.761; WRMR = 1.592). However, item analysis revealed that item#25 had zero variance (all subjects were assigned the same score after item dichotomization) and item#24 had a low factor loading, and were thus removed. Furthermore, item#10 and item#11 showed to be almost perfectly correlated (r = 0.998) and were thus parceled. The resulting 19-item single-factor model revealed a better fit to the data (chi(2)152 = 235.69; p < 0.001; normed chi(2) = 1.556; RMSEA = 0.046; 90% CI 0.034-0.058; CFI = 0.858; WRMR = 1.236) and its internal consistency was acceptable (KR-20 = 0.72). Also, a single-factor model including the seven diagnostic symptoms was tested and showed adequate fit values (chi(2)20 = 41.911; p < 0.003; normed chi(2) = 2.09; RMSEA = 0.065; 90% CI 0.037-0.093; CFI = 0.946; WRMR = 1.132). Statistically significant and small-to-high correlations were found with all convergent measures, in particular with the BES. Conclusion The Italian 19-item YFAS resulted to be a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of food addiction in postgraduate students.