title: German version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0: Prevalence and correlates of 'food addiction' in students and obese individuals.
abstract: The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) measures addiction-like eating of palatable foods based on the seven diagnostic criteria for substance dependence in the fourth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Most recently, a new version of the YFAS has been developed based on the revised eleven diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder in DSM-5. This YFAS 2.0 was translated into German and used among other measures in a study with 455 university students (89% female) and in a study with 138 obese patients presenting for bariatric surgery (78% female). In the student sample, the one-factorial structure of the English version could be replicated and internal consistency was α = 0.90. The diagnostic threshold for 'food addiction' was met by 10% of the sample. 'Food addiction' diagnoses were associated with higher body mass, binge eating frequency, trait food craving, and attentional impulsivity as well as with lower perceived self-regulatory success in dieting. In the obese sample, the diagnostic threshold for 'food addiction' was met by 47% of participants. Again, 'food addiction' symptomatology was associated with higher binge eating frequency and attentional impulsivity. However, those with a 'food addiction' diagnosis did not differ from those without a diagnosis in body mass. To conclude, psychometric properties of the English YFAS 2.0 were replicated for the German YFAS 2.0. Prevalence rates and correlates of 'food addiction' as measured with the YFAS 2.0 were similar to those found with the previous version of the YFAS. Thus, the German YFAS 2.0 appears to be a reliable measure that can be used for the investigation of addiction-like eating behavior, analogous to the original version of the YFAS and the English YFAS 2.0.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. Electronic address: adrian.meule@sbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meule
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Gearhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blechert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004435:Eating / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D000073932:Food Addiction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014177:Translations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Binge eating; Body mass index; Food addiction; Food craving; Impulsivity; Obesity