title: Eating Pattern Inventory for Children: a new self-rating questionnaire for preadolescents.
abstract: A questionnaire on psychological dimensions of eating behavior in children is presented. Existing questionnaires for children specifically focus on symptoms of eating disorders only, whereas for adults, questionnaires assessing general psychological dimensions of eating behavior are also available. The development of the Eating Pattern Inventory for Children (EPI-C) was based on a sample of 373 fourth-grade students. Factor and item analysis led to a psychometrically sound 20-item questionnaire with the dimensions dietary restraint, external eating, parental pressure to eat, and emotional eating. These factors explain 62% of the total item variance. Subscale scores and emerging eating patterns were associated with children's body weight suggesting initial evidence of its validity. The EPI-C is proposed for research on eating behavior in clinical and non-clinical preadolescent samples.
authors.affiliation: University of Hamburg, Psychologisches Institut III, Germany. melanie.schacht@uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schacht
authors.forename: Hertha
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Richter-Appelt
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulte-Markwort
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hebebrand
authors.forename: Benno Graf
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Schimmelmann
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires