Psychometric properties and gender invariance of the simplified Chinese version of Night Eating Questionnaire in a large sample of mainland Chinese college students

The Night Eating Questionnaire through the lens of the Rasch model

Previous research focused on the conventional approaches to test psychometric characteristics of the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ). The purpose of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Night Eating Questionnaire using the Rasch model in a sample of university students. The study was carried out from November 2018 to March 2019 on 300 students in health sciences at the University of Pristina temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica, who completed the NEQ. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested that the Serbian version mirrored the original NEQ structure: Goodness of fit index = 0.978, Comparative fit index = 0.996, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.995, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.011 and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = 0.057. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.627. The Rasch analysis showed that the item separation index classified the items into six groups based on their level of difficulty. The person reliability index separated well night eaters from day eaters. Few items did not fit the adequate range for the infit/outfit statistics. Overall, there were several groups of NEQ items that have a distinctive difficulty level, but the difference was not a remarkable one. This means that most students did not have night eating syndrome (NES), despite various levels of item difficulty. The NEQ performs well in the efforts to distinguish people who eat and do not eat at night. Most students reported conventional eating patterns and only a few had NES. The properties of the NEQ warrant its use in further night eating research.

A Scoping Review on the Association between Night Eating Syndrome and Physical Health, Health-Related Quality of Life, Sleep and Weight Status in Adults

Night eating syndrome (NES) is characterised by recurrent episodes of night eating, evident through excessive food consumption after the evening meal or eating after awakening from sleep, often associated with significant distress and/or impairment in functioning. This scoping review was conducted according to PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. The search was conducted through the use of PubMed, Medline (OVID) and SCOPUS, to identify relevant articles published within the last 10 years. Search terms including "Night eating*" OR "NES" and Boolean phrases were used to refine the search. Additionally, the age of participants was restricted to 18 years and above, to ensure only adult participants were included. The abstracts of the remaining articles were used to screen for those that were relevant. From a total of 663 citations, 30 studies assessing night eating syndrome met the inclusion criteria to be included in the review. We found inconsistent associations of NES with higher body mass index (BMI), less physical activity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and poorer quality of sleep. These inconsistencies may have been due to the use of different measurement methods, lack of power from small sample sizes of NES in some studies and varying ages of participants, with associations being more likely to be found in higher-quality, representative populations than in university student samples. There were no associations of NES with T2DM in clinical populations and with hypertension, OSA and metabolic syndrome, but sample sizes were small. The impacts of NES on these medical conditions should be addressed in future, using well-sized and long-term studies involving representative populations of adults. In conclusion, NES likely has negative impacts on BMI, T2DM, physical activity, and sleep quality, which in turn may increase cardio-metabolic risk. However, further research is needed to elucidate the interaction between NES and its associated features.

Assessing hedonic hunger among Chinese adults using the Power of Food Scale: Psychometric properties and cross-cultural invariance between China and the US

Hedonic hunger refers to food consumption for pleasure without biological energy deficits. The Power of Food Scale (PFS) is a well-developed self-report instrument assessing hedonic hunger. The present study aimed to translate and validate the PFS into simplified Chinese (C-PFS) and examine its psychometric properties among Chinese adults. A total of 773 participants (51.1 % men, M age = 24.98 years, SD = 6.10) were recruited in the present study from college and community populations. Consistent with the previous studies, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the C-PFS had three factors: food present, food available, and food tasted. In addition, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92 and an ICC of 0.86 suggested that the C-PFS has good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In terms of convergent validity, the scores of C-PFS correlated significantly with disordered eating symptomatology and loss of control over eating. Measurement invariance tests showed that the C-PFS was invariant across gender and sample source groups in the Chinese sample. In addition, a U.S. sample of 490 college students (26.6 % men, M age = 21.41 years, SD = 5.45) was used to test the measurement invariance across countries, and results suggested a partial invariance across college students from China and those from the U.S. In conclusion, the C-PFS can be a useful tool for measuring hedonic hunger among adults in China, and there may be cultural differences in the measurement of the PFS in college students across China and the U.S.

Exploring the bidirectional relationships between night eating, loss of control eating, and sleep quality in Chinese adolescents: A four-wave cross-lagged study

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the bidirectional relationships between sleep quality, loss of control (LOC) eating, and night eating in Chinese adolescents using longitudinal data over an 18-month study period.

METHOD

Four-waves of data measurement (Waves 1-4), at 6-month intervals, were conducted with 2566 adolescents aged 11-17 years at baseline. A set of questionnaires were used to assess night eating, LOC eating, and sleep quality at each wave of data collection. Cross-lagged models were applied to analyze the bidirectional relationships between night eating, LOC eating, and sleep quality.

RESULTS

Results indicated that higher night eating scores consistently predicted poorer sleep quality and higher LOC eating scores at Waves 1, 2, and 3. Furthermore, poorer sleep quality predicted higher night eating scores at Wave 1 and Wave 3, and higher LOC eating scores predicted higher night eating scores at Wave 1 and Wave 2.

DISCUSSION

These findings highlight that night eating, LOC eating, and sleep quality were interrelated across time in Chinese adolescents. Improving sleep quality and reducing LOC eating might be promising in the prevention of night eating in adolescents. Similarly, reducing night eating might be promising in improving sleep quality and reducing LOC eating in adolescents.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE

This study explored the bidirectional relationship between night eating, LOC eating, and sleep quality in Chinese adolescents using cross-lagged models. Findings indicate bidirectional relationships between these variables and highlight the potential utility in incorporating sleep, LOC eating, and night eating interventions in eating pathology prevention designs for adolescents.

Patterns of perceived parenting styles and associations with night eating syndrome symptoms and correlates among Chinese adolescents: a latent profile analysis

PURPOSE

This paper aimed to explore the association between the patterns of perceived parenting styles and adolescents' night eating syndrome symptoms and correlates, including sleep quality, weight status, loss of control over eating, and psychological distress.

METHODS

A sample of 455 Chinese adolescents (54.5% females, aged 12-15 years) were included in the current study. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was adopted to examine the patterns of perceived parenting styles. The three-step approach was used to explore the differences in night eating syndrome symptoms and correlates between different profiles.

RESULTS

A four-profile solution was found to fit the data best, and the four profiles were labeled as positive parenting, negative parenting, highly engaged parenting, and lowly engaged parenting. Subsequent analyses showed that adolescents across profiles exhibited significant differences in night eating syndrome symptoms and correlates. Specifically, adolescents in the positive parenting profile generally had the lowest scores in night eating and its correlates, while those in the negative parenting group reported the highest scores in night eating and its correlates.

CONCLUSION

Using a person-centered approach (i.e., LPA), the present study identified four distinct patterns of perceived parenting styles in a sample of Chinese adolescents, with night eating and related symptomatology differing across each profile. Future interventions targeting night eating among adolescents may consider the potential influence from the patterns of perceived parenting styles to have a better intervention outcome.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

The association between the timing of energy intake and the risk of overweight and obesity among Saudi female university student

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the relationship between the timing of energy intake and obesity. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2018 and December 2018. A total of 450 Saudi female students from the University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia were recruited. A 4-day dietary record was used to estimate the total energy intake per day and per meal. Height and weight were measured to calculate body mass index. Results: The study showed a significant negative association between obesity and energy intake at breakfast (r = -0.70, p less than 0.05) and mid-morning (r = -0.53, p less than 0.05) as well as a significant positive association between obesity and energy intake at dinner (r = 0.85, p less than 0.05). Additionally, there was no significant difference between the obese and normal weight groups in the total energy intake per day or the total percentage of energy from fat, carbohydrate, and protein per day. However, the total energy intake for each meal and the percentage of energy from fat, carbohydrate, and protein per meal were significantly different between the groups. Conclusion: The greater intake of energy at dinner was positively associated with obesity, while greater energy intake at breakfast were negatively associated with overweight and obesity.

Night eating syndrome: a psychiatric disease, a sleep disorder, a delayed circadian eating rhythm, and/or a metabolic condition?

Introduction: Night Eating Syndrome (NES) refers to an abnormal eating behavior which presents as evening hyperphagia consuming >25% calorie intake and/or nocturnal awaking with food ingestion which occurs ≥2 times per week. Although the syndrome has been described more than seven decades ago, the literature has been growing slowly on its etiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Areas covered: The proposed treatment options for NES are all at a case-study level. Moreover, our understanding of its etiology, comorbidities, and diagnosis is still premature. We performed a literature review in Medline/PubMed to identify all the studies proposing a management plan for NES and summarized all the existing data on its diagnosis and treatment. Expert opinion: To date, none of the proposed treatment options for NES have been promising and long-term data on its efficacy is lacking. The slow growth of evidence on this debilitating but underreported condition may be due to unawareness among clinicians, under-reporting by patients, and unrecognized diagnostic criteria. Objective screening of symptoms during office visits especially for patients at a high-risk for NES will identify more patients suffering from the syndrome.

Assessing Appetitive Traits Among Chinese Young Adults Using the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire: Factor Structure, Gender Invariance and Latent Mean Differences, and Associations With BMI

The current study examined the factor structure, measurement reliability, measurement invariance across genders, and latent gender mean differences, of a new Chinese translation of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (C-AEBQ) in a Chinese young adult sample (n = 1,068, 52.57% women). The associations between the appetitive traits assessed by the AEBQ and body mass index were also explored. The previously established eight-factor model of the AEBQ was supported in the present sample. The C-AEBQ had strong measurement invariance between genders. Cronbach's alpha estimates of the eight subscales of the C-AEBQ ranged from 0.76 to 0.97, and the test-retest reliability coefficients of the subscales ranged from 0.50 to 0.77. The C-AEBQ had adequate convergent and divergent validity, as supported by the theoretically expected correlations between C-AEBQ and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. Furthermore, Satiety Responsiveness, Slowness in Eating, and Food Fussiness were inversely associated with body mass index. Overall, the C-AEBQ appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument as a comprehensive measure for appetitive traits for Chinese young adults.

A Review of the Relationship between Night Eating Syndrome and Body Mass Index

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW

To review literature on night eating syndrome (NES) and body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) published in the last 5 years.

RECENT FINDINGS

Since December, 2013, 11 studies examined the association between NES and BMI. Five of these studies reported a positive relationship, five showed no relationship, and one produced mixed findings. Emotional eating and age were moderators. Twelve studies examined whether there was a difference in BMI between those with and without NES with only five of these finding differences. A primary weakness of the recent literature base is that it is almost entirely cross-sectional. Recent findings regarding the relationship between NES and BMI are mixed. Future research should examine the relationship between these variables longitudinally and continue to examine moderating variables that explain why some individuals manifest excess weight with NES and others do not.