Psychometric assessment and measurement invariance of the Intuitive Eating Scale-3 among Brazilian men and women

Intuitive eating is an adaptive approach to eating that uniquely contributes to improved quality of life and psychological well-being. The Intuitive Eating Scale is a widely used measure that has been validated across diverse cultural contexts and among individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds. However, its third version (IES-3) was only tested among U.S. adults. In the present study, we perform a psychometric assessment of the Brazilian Portuguese translation of the IES-3 in a sample of 522 men and women. We evaluated the factor structure using a two-step, split-sample exploratory (n = 254) and confirmatory factor (CFA) analytic approach. CFA and exploratory structural equation modeling supported the original four-factor structure of the measure. Bifactor CFA confirms the existence of an overarching factor. Full measurement invariance of the IES-3 was found between men and women. Additionally, we found good convergent validity with measures of disordered eating behaviors, positive eating, body appreciation, and self-compassion. Finally, good internal consistency was obtained for the IES-3 total scores and its four subscales. Collectively, these results support the use of the measure in Brazilian men and women and provide a foundation to expand the literature on eating disorder prevention, body image, and mental health in this population.