ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Eating behaviour pattern is among the key behavioural factors that contribute to eating disorders. Hence, to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Eating Behaviour Pattern Questionnaire (EBPQ) that is used in epidemiological studies to measure the relationship between health outcomes and eating behaviour patterns, this study aimed to validate the adopted version of the EBPQ and to check the validity and reliability of this tool in University of Malaya, Malaysia. Methods: Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to determine the most appropriate factor structure of EBPQ. Moreover, structural equation modelling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were applied to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of EBPQ. As for the participants of the study, multi-stage random sampling was used and 200 students (109 females and 91 males) from University of Malaya were chosen. Results: The EFA yielded nine components of EBPQ including emotional eating, eating outside, cultural habit, low-fat eating, meal skipping, snacking, healthy eating, planning for food and sweets, which explained 67.7% of the total variance. Furthermore, the Cronbach’s α was about 0.8 for all components, which exhibited a high internal consistency among the obtained components. The results showed that the questionnaire had sufficient convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusion: The EBPQ was proven to be a reliable tool to measure the eating behaviour patterns in Malaysian university students. The presence of adequate validity and reliability supports this instrument’s psychometric properties for future studies.
ABSTRACT
Background Based on prior research in the field, a preliminary questionnaire was created to compare the coping strategies of schizophrenic patients to those of non-ill community residents. Results of the comparison were subsequently used to develop a questionnaire suitable for use in schizophrenic patients.Methods Ninety-one of the 92 items in the preliminary questionnaire were identified from previous questionnaires, and one additional item was created based on information provided in individual interviews with schizophrenic patients. This questionnaire was administered to 315 community controls and 208 schizophrenic inpatients. Exploratory Factor Analyses to identify the factor structure of coping strategies were independently conducted for controls and patients. Based on these results, a revised 65-item instrument was developed and administered to a new group of 287 controls and 219 schizophrenic inpatients. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) using Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) were independently conducted for the two groups to confirm their respective factor structures.Results Six coping categories identified in normal controls were problem solving, avoidance, cognitive adjustment, emotional adjustment, seeking special support, and denial. Among schizophrenic patients, however,coping strategies of "seeking special support" and "denial" were not independent of the other four coping categories. Their items were distributed among the others. Results of CFA confirmed this four-category model of coping strategies for schizophrenic patients.Conclusions Coping categories employed by schizophrenic patients were different from those employed by normal community controls. Schizophrenic patients lacked the necessary flexibility of selecting appropriate coping strategies.