Assessing Evidence of Validity for the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 among Adult Latina Women

Abstract

Introduction/Background: No research has been conducted on the relevance of intuitive eating as a promising strategy for sustainable weight management among Latinas. This study translated Tylka and Kroon Van Diest’s (2013) Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) into Spanish and employed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to examine evidence of validity. Methods: We recruited Latinas from community venues in South San Diego, California to participate in this cross-sectional study. Inclusion criteria were: at least 18 years of age, monolingual Spanish or bilingual English/Spanish speaker, and self-identified Latina. In total, 150 Latinas completed a structured, face-to-face interview, which included the Spanish IES-2. Data were used in conducting an EFA. Results: Four items were removed for not loading on the initial EFA. Once items were removed, we extracted five factors with Eigenvalues greater than 1, which accounted for almost two-thirds of the variance. Of the four original IES-2 factors, two were retained identically: Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cues (RHSC) and Body-Food Choice Congruence (B-FCC). The Eating for Physical Rather than Emotional Reasons (EPR) subscale lost one item in the initial EFA, and was not unidimensional, resulting in two separate subscales. Evidence of score reliability was marginal to strong ( α = 0.63 - 0.87). Discussion: This study is first to provide evidence of validity and reliability for a Spanish translation of the IES-2. The results suggest that the proposed Spanish IES-2 can be used to study intuitive eating behaviors and attitudes among Latinas. However, further research with larger sample sizes and other diverse populations are suggested.