Development and Validation of Eating Problems Scale on Pakistani Youth Sample

The current study aimed to develop a culturally appropriate measure of eating problems in young adults in Pakistani culture. The items were generated through an open-ended phenomenological approach and 40 participants (20 women and 20 men) with age range of 15-25 years (M = 19.43, SD = 3.31) grads and undergrads from public and private sectors were individually interviewed. Participants’ responses were collated; vague and duplicate items were discarded. A list of 75-item was generated and then it was validated by 10 clinical psychologists. Using content validity index a 5-point likert Eating Problem Scale (EPS) having 63 items was generated for development of psychometric properties. For standardization of EPS, 673 students (Men = 269 and Women = 405) with age ranges from 15 to 25 years (M = 19.76, SD = 2.21) were recruited through stratified random sampling from public and private colleges and universities. Demographic Performa, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and Eating Attitudes Test-26 (Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982) were used for measurement of validity. Through EFA, five factors generated proneness to obesity, anxious-avoidant eating, preoccupied with body image, bulimic tendencies and disorganized eating. EPS found to have remarkable internal consistency (α =. 70), split-half reliability (.86), highly to moderately significant test-retest reliability, context and discriminant validity. Results were discussed further in the context of cultural implication.