Investigation of psychometric properties of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire in Chinese adolescents and young adults using mixed methods

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are major public health challenges in China, and increasingly among young people. Valid measures are needed to examine the relationship between eating styles and weight to advance understanding and intervention. Mindful approaches show promise in weight management. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of Mindful Eating Questionnaire (C-MEQ). Study 1 used a think aloud methodology to examine Chinese young adults' (n = 7) and adolescents’ (n = 10) comprehension of C-MEQ items. Findings informed revision of problematic items before a full validation study (Study 2) of the revised C-MEQ (C-MEQ-R) in a sample of 430 Chinese young adults. In Study 1, both groups misinterpreted ten items as asking about noticing about whether behaviour ever occurred rather than noticing experience, indicating the lack of content validity of the C-MEQ. Ten items were rephrased to emphasise mindful (intentional) noticing in the moment. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis revealed an inadequate fit to the original MEQ structure. Exploratory Structural Equation Model of the C-MEQ-R revealed five distinct domains. The C-MEQ-R showed better psychometric properties than the C-MEQ, and significant associations with mindfulness, emotional eating, external eating and BMI in expected directions. However, psychometric limitations including low internal reliability, inadequate coherence of the subscales and limited construct validity were identified. These findings contribute to the progress in the measurement of mindful eating by highlighting the weaknesses of the MEQ. Further research is called to adopt and validate alternative mindful eating measurements to assess mindful eating in Chinese adolescents and young adults.