Reliability of the ecSatter Inventory as a tool to measure eating competence

Abstract

Objective: To examine the reliability of the ecSatter Inventory (ecSI), a measure of eating competence.

Design: Self-report questionnaires were administered in person or by mail. Retesting occurred 2 to 6 weeks after completion of the first questionnaire.

Participants: Both administrations of the questionnaire were completed by 259 participants who were mostly food secure, white females with some college education; mean age was 26.9 +/- 10.4 years.

Measures: Test-retest reliability and internal consistency.

Analysis: Spearman's rank correlation coefficients to estimate test-retest reliability and Cronbach alpha coefficients to estimate internal consistency.

Results: Spearman's rank correlation coefficient for ecSI total score was 0.68; subscale coefficients were 0.70 for eating attitudes, 0.70 for contextual skills, 0.65 for food acceptance, and 0.52 for internal regulation. Cronbach alpha coefficient for ecSI total score was 0.77. Subscale alphas coefficients were 0.80 for eating attitudes, 0.69 for contextual skills, 0.68 for food acceptance, and 0.66 for internal regulation.

Conclusions and implications: This study provides psychometric evidence about the reliability of ecSI as a measure of eating competence in this sample. Although some ecSI items may require revision, results suggest that the instrument may be used to evaluate nutrition education designed to improve eating competence.