Validation of the Hungarian version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0)

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

• Food addiction prevalence in the sample was 18.5%. • Confirmatory factor analysis supported a good fit for the single-factor model of YFAS 2.0. • The Hungarian version of the YFAS 2.0 demonstrated good internal consistency and convergent validity. • The Hungarian version of the YFAS 2.0 is an effective tool for screening food addiction in clinical and nonclinical settings. The Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) was recently updated to assess food addiction according to the DSM-5 criteria for substance-related and addictive disorders. This study aimed to validating the YFAS 2.0 on the Hungarian sample. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a sample of 605 participants. The instruments used for data collection included the YFAS 2.0, Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Revised 21-Items (TFEQ-R21), The 21-item Barratt Impulsiveness Scale Revised (BIS-R-21), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The factor structure, internal consistency and convergent validity of the Hungarian version of the YFAS 2.0 were evaluated. Proportion to the current sample Food Addiction was 18.5 %. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a good fit for the single-factor model. The YFAS 2.0 symptom count demonstrated a positive correlation with TFEQ-R-21 subscales, ranging from 0.12 to 0.54, with BIS-R-21 subscales ranging from 0.24 to 0.49, and with DASS-21 subscales ranging from 0.41 to 0.50. The H-YFAS 2.0 food addiction severity was significantly associated with TFEQ-R-21, BIS-R-21, and DASS-21 subscales of the scales. All of which were statistically significant (p < 0.001), indicating acceptable convergent validity. The Hungarian version of the YFAS 2.0 has been validated in a nonclinical sample, demonstrating its utility as an effective tool for screening food addiction.