Development and validation of a Food Preoccupation Questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
Existing Food Preoccupation Questionnaires do not take account of food-related thoughts that have a positive emotional valence. We report on the development and validation of a questionnaire that provides independent assessments of thought frequency and emotional valence (positive, negative or neutral).


METHODS
In Study 1 questionnaire items were validated against a three-day diary measure with 40 males and females. In Study 2 the questionnaire was administered to 130 males and females alongside a range of other measures.


RESULTS
The questionnaire showed good construct validity, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability. Dieters and females scored higher on frequency and negativity subscales. There was also a significant interaction between sex and diet status on thought frequency, with females showing a stronger relationship between the two.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire should be useful for exploring the cognitive impact of dieting and relationships between food preoccupation, food processing biases and overeating.
Tapper
Katy
K
Department of Psychology, Swansea University, SA2 8PP, United Kingdom. k.tapper@swansea.ac.uk
Pothos
Emmanuel M
EM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology; D004033:Diet Fads / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires