Validation of the Greek version of the Salzburg Stress Eating Scale in adults

BACKGROUND: It is widely known that excessive or prolonged stress in humans, can negatively affect eating behavior. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to validate the Salzburg Stress Eating Scale (SSES) in the Greek language and to examine its psychometric properties, in a sample of adults, in Greece. METHODS: An online survey was conducted. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the three-factor eating questionnaire (TFEQ) R-18 and two subscales of the Dutch Eating Behavior questionnaire (DEBQ) were used, together with the SSES. Certain sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics were also assessed. Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA), Cronbach's alpha and Spearman's rho were used. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 368 participants (51.1% women) and the mean age of the participants was 35 years. EFA indicated one factor in SSES with Eigenvalues > 1, which explained the 54.6% of total variance. The Cronbach's Alpha was 0.920. SSES was significantly positively correlated with the subscales of the DEBQ (for the Restrained Eating subscale r = 0.147 and for the Emotional Eating subscale r = 0.615, p < 0.001) and was significantly negatively correlated with two subscales of the TEFQ (for the TFEQ1 r = -0.233 and for the TFEQ2 r = -0.562, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of SSES is a reliable tool for assessing changes in eating behavior, in relation to stress.