Dating Violence in Mexican College Students: Evaluation of an Educational Workshop.

Dating violence represents an important health problem among adolescents and young adults, not only because of its high prevalence but also because of its negative consequences for individual and social development. Educational programs aimed at the prevention and reduction of aggression are indispensable; therefore, the aims of this study were to assess perception and attitudes toward dating violence, and to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational workshop among college students. A total of 212 students from a public university in Mexico City participated in the study. The participants were distributed into two groups: the intervention group (IG; which received a workshop on dating violence) and the control group (CG; which did not participate in the workshop). A self-reported questionnaire was applied to assess students' perception and attitudes toward violence. Means and standard deviations were calculated. In both groups, the comparison between pre- and post-evaluation scores was carried out using the test for matched pairs. The MANOVA test was performed for repeated measurements. The participants of the workshop showed positive changes in perception and attitudes toward dating violence, p < .0001; these changes were not observed in the CG, p = .98. Women in the IG showed a higher improvement than men, p = .04. Findings highlight the importance of creating long-term health promotion programs to improve human relationships, particularly in such important areas as dating violence.

Psychometric characteristics of the Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire and obesity in Mexican university students.

INTRODUCTION: Emotional eating has been defined as eating in a response to negative emotions and it is associated with weight gain. The English version of Eating Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire (EADES) was developed to assess how individuals use food in order to cope with stress and emotions. OBJECTIVE: To analyze psychometric characteristics of Spanish version of EADES and to identify whether the constructs of EADES were associated with obesity in university students. METHODS: The EADES (Spanish version) was administered to 232 Mexican university students from 18 to 29 years old. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. A test-retest evaluation was conducted with 75 participants. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha of EADES was 0.92; the interclass correlation coefficient was 0.88. Regarding BMI and EADES results, the subscale Emotion and Stress Related Eating was significantly associated with obesity (p = 0.026). Through factor analysis of the instrument, three factors were extracted and items that showed factor loading < 0.40 were eliminated. 40 items remained in the questionnaire. With regard to obesity and the 40-items version of the instrument, a statistically significance association was found for the total score (OR = 0.973, p = 0.020) and for the factor Self-confidence related to Emotional Eating component (OR = 0.940, p = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: A good internal consistency and temporal stability of the Spanish version of the instrument were found; the 40-item EADES version was positively associated with obesity. This instrument could be useful in assessing emotional eating.

Introducción: la conducta alimentaria emocional se ha definido como el comer como respuesta a las emociones negativas y se ha asociado con el aumento de peso. El cuestionario Eating Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire (EADES, Conducta Alimentaria Relacionada a Emociones y Estrés), fue desarrollado para la identificación y evaluación de las conductas relacionas con la ingestión de alimentos como resultado del estrés y las emociones. Objetivo: analizar las características psicométricas de la versión en español del EADES e identificar la posible asociación entre los constructos que conforman el EADES con la presencia de obesidad en estudiantes universitarios mexicanos. Métodos: la versión traducida al español del EADES fue administrado a 232 estudiantes de 18 a 29 años. Se calculó el Índice de Masa Corporal (IMC). El análisis de confiabilidad ( test-retest) se llevó a cabo con 75 participantes. Resultados: el alfa de Cronbach de EADES en español fue de 0,92; el coeficiente de correlación intraclase fue de 0,88. Se observó una asociación significativa entre el puntaje del EADES, subescala Conducta Alimentaria Relacionada a Emociones y Estres, y el IMC (p = 0.026). Mediante el análisis de factores del intrumento, tres factores fueron extraídos, y los ítems que mostraron cargas factoriales < 0,400 fueron eliminados, lo que dio por resultado una versión reducida del EADES, la cual se conformó por 40 ítems. Con respecto a la obesidad y el instrumento reducido, se encontró una asociación estadísticamente significativa para la puntuación total (OR = 0,973, p = 0,020) y para el factor de Autoconfianza en la Conducta Alimentaria Emocional (OR = 0,940, p = 0,026). Conclusiones: se encontró una buena consistencia interna y estabilidad temporal del instrumento EADES en la versión en español; la versión reducida a 40-ítems se asoció positivamente con obesidad. Este instrumento puede ser útil para la evaluación de la conducta alimentaria emocional.

Psychometric characteristics of the Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire and obesity in Mexican university students / Características psicométricas del cuestionario sobre Conducta Alimentaria Relacionada A Emociones y Estrés (EADES) y obesidad en estudiantes universitarios de la ciudad de México

Introduction: emotional eating has been defined as eating in a response to negative emotions and it is associated with weight gain. The English version of Eating Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire (EADES) was developed to assess how individuals use food in order to cope with stress and emotions. Objective: to analyze psychometric characteristics of Spanish version of EADES and to identify whether the constructs of EADES were associated with obesity in university students. Methods: the EADES (Spanish version) was administered to 232 Mexican university students from 18 to 29 years old. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. A test-retest evaluation was conducted with 75 participants. Results: Cronbach’s alpha of EADES was 0.92; the interclass correlation coefficient was 0.88. Regarding BMI and EADES results, the subscale Emotion and Stress Related Eating was significantly associated with obesity (p = 0.026). Through factor analysis of the instrument, three factors were extracted and items that showed factor loading < 0.40 were eliminated. 40 items remained in the questionnaire. With regard to obesity and the 40-items version of the instrument, a statistically significance association was found for the total score (OR = 0.973, p = 0.020) and for the factor Self-confidence related to Emotional Eating component (OR = 0.940, p = 0.026). Conclusions: a good internal consistency and temporal stability of the Spanish version of the instrument were found; the 40-item EADES version was positively associated with obesity. This instrument could be useful in assessing emotional eating (AU)

Introducción: la conducta alimentaria emocional se ha definido como el comer como respuesta a las emociones negativas y se ha asociado con el aumento de peso. El cuestionario Eating Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire (EADES, Conducta Alimentaria Relacionada a Emociones y Estrés), fue desarrollado para la identificación y evaluación de las conductas relacionas con la ingestión de alimentos como resultado del estrés y las emociones. Objetivo: analizar las características psicométricas de la versión en español del EADES e identificar la posible asociación entre los constructos que conforman el EADES con la presencia de obesidad en estudiantes universitarios mexicanos. Métodos: la versión traducida al español del EADES fue administrado a 232 estudiantes de 18 a 29 años. Se calculó el Índice de Masa Corporal (IMC). El análisis de confiabilidad ( test-retest) se llevó a cabo con 75 participantes. Resultados: el alfa de Cronbach de EADES en español fue de 0,92; el coeficiente de correlación intraclase fue de 0,88. Se observó una asociación significativa entre el puntaje del EADES, subescala Conducta Alimentaria Relacionada a Emociones y Estres, y el IMC (p = 0.026). Mediante el análisis de factores del intrumento, tres factores fueron extraídos, y los ítems que mostraron cargas factoriales < 0,400 fueron eliminados, lo que dio por resultado una versión reducida del EADES, la cual se conformó por 40 ítems. Con respecto a la obesidad y el instrumento reducido, se encontró una asociación estadísticamente significativa para la puntuación total (OR = 0,973, p = 0,020) y para el factor de Autoconfianza en la Conducta Alimentaria Emocional (OR = 0,940, p = 0,026). Conclusiones: se encontró una buena consistencia interna y estabilidad temporal del instrumento EADES en la versión en español; la versión reducida a 40-ítems se asoció positivamente con obesidad. Este instrumento puede ser útil para la evaluación de la conducta alimentaria emocional (AU)