Psychometric comparison of the Persian Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale and Emotional Eater Questionnaire among Iranian adults

Plain English summary Emotional eating is defined as overeating in response to negative emotions. Emotional eating could lead to substantial psychological suffering as well as health issues. Therefore, measuring emotional eating is important. This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale (SEES) and the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) among Iranian adults. Participants in the study included 489 adults who completed both questionnaires online. The results showed that the SEES and the EEQ had acceptable face and content validity; however, the SEES showed better goodness-of-fit indices and factor loading values than the EEQ. Although the SEES and the EEQ are suitable for measuring emotional eating, the SEES showed better results and the SEES is recommended for measuring emotional eating among Iranian adults. Background The Salzburg Emotional Eating Scale (SEES) and the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ) are self-reported measures developed to evaluate emotional eating in adults in Western countries. To date, the psychometric properties of the SEES and the EEQ have not been studied among Iranian adults. The aim of the current study is to translate the SEES and the EEQ from English to Persian and examine the psychometric properties of the SEES and EEQ. Method The sample of this study comprised of 489 Iranian adults who completed the SEES and the EEQ questionnaires online. Results Findings of face, content, and construct validity tests confirmed that the SEES and the EEQ had acceptable validity and appropriate reliability. The results from confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable goodness-of-fit indices for two measures. Conclusion Results of Average Variance Extracted, Construct Reliability, and goodness-of-fit indices showed that the SEES was better for evaluating emotional eating among Iranian adults than the EEQ.