Psychometric properties of the Eating Loss of Control scale among post-bariatric patients

2019 
Abstract Background Assessing the complexities of eating behaviors in patients who undergo bariatric surgery is challenging. The Eating Loss of Control Scale (ELOCS), a measure of loss-of-control eating, has not yet been evaluated psychometrically among bariatric surgery patients. Objective This study presents a psychometric examination of the ELOCS in a postoperative bariatric surgery patients. Setting Academic medical center in the United States. Methods 171 post-bariatric treatment-seeking adults (82.5% female, 54.4% White) with LOC-eating completed the ELOCS and measures assessing eating psychopathology and mood. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test fit for a 1-factor solution. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) examined alternative factor structures. Results CFA revealed poor fit for a 1-factor structure, χ 2 = 229.375(135), p 2 = 157.76(118), p = .009, CFI=.965, TLI=.955, RMSEA=.047. Factor 1 (α = .88) reflected behavioral aspects and Factor 2 (α = .92) reflected cognitive/emotional aspects of LOC-eating. Bivariate correlations with measures of eating and other psychopathology suggested good construct validity for factors. Discussion Findings suggest possible differences in the construct validity of the ELOCS among post-bariatric patients. The 1-factor solution previously supported in clinical and non-clinical groups demonstrated poor fit. EFA revealed a possible alternative 2-factor solution that aligns with emerging literature, suggesting that LOC-eating presents differently in post-bariatric patients. Conclusions Researchers interested in LOC-eating among bariatric patients should consider use of the ELOCS and testing the proposed alternative factor structure.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    38
    References
    1
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []
    Baidu
    map