Turkish version of the German Eating Behavior Scale (SEV-Tr): a study of reliability and construct validity

This two-phase study aims to develop the Turkish version of the German Eating Behavior Scale (SEV-Tr), and to investigate the potential associations of health-conscious and weight-controlling eating behaviors with nutritional and health status. In the first phase, the original scale was adapted to the Turkish language and its validity and reliability were assessed in 299 healthy individuals aged 19-64 years. In the second phase, the SEV-Tr was retested in a study population of 110 healthy individuals, aged 19-64 years, and the potential associations between the SEV-Tr score, anthropometrical and biochemical measurements, and other eating behaviors assessed by the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-Tr21) were examined. Statistical analyses were performed using AMOS 20.00 and SPSS 22.0 software packages. A two-dimensional structure was identified for the SEV-Tr, and named 'health-conscious eating behavior' and 'weight- controlling eating behavior'. In the second phase, participants were clustered based on their weight-controlling and health-conscious eating behaviors (F = 59.46, <i>p</i> = 0.01). Participants with lower health-conscious and weight-controlling eating behaviors had higher lean body mass (<i>p</i> = 0.03), serum triglyceride levels (<i>p</i> = 0.01), emotional eating behavior (<i>p</i> = 0.03), and lower cognitive restraint behavior (<i>p</i> = 0.01, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Furthermore, participants with high levels of health-conscious eating behavior had higher serum HDL cholesterol (<i>r</i> = 0.23, <i>p</i> = 0.02). Regression models suggested that lower levels of emotional eating and higher levels of cognitive restraint were associated with increased weight-controlling and health-conscious eating behaviors. This study provided a valid and reliable version of the SEV to assess the health-conscious and weight-controlling eating patterns in people from Turkish culture.