Development and Validation of a Short Form of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0

Background The Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) consists of 35 items and assesses food addiction (FA) according to the 11 DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance-related and addictive disorders, plus impairment or distress. Its 13-item short form, known as modified YFAS 2.0 (mYFAS 2.0), has been found to yield lower symptom count and lower prevalence of FA. This work aims to develop an alternative short form of the YFAS 2.0, called S-YFAS 2.0, which is specially designed to best reproduce the results obtained with the YFAS 2.0. Results Two studies, conducted on large, independent samples of middle and high school students, led to the development of the instrument and an in-depth evaluation of its psychometric properties. The S-YFAS 2.0 consists of 24 items and exhibited a one-dimensional factor structure, very good internal consistency, and invariance across gender and school level. Moreover, it reproduced the symptom counts and FA diagnoses of the YFAS 2.0 very well and better than the mYFAS 2.0, and replicated the findings on prevalence and correlates of FA observed with the YFAS 2.0. Conclusions The S-YFAS 2.0 is thus a valuable instrument for use in clinical settings and studies requiring an efficient, yet sensitive measure of FA.