Key references:
Gearhardt, A.N., Corbin, W.R., & Brownell, K.D. (2009). Preliminary validation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale. Appetite, 52, 430-436.
Gearhardt, A. N., White, M. A., Masheb, R. M., Morgan, P. T., Crosby, R. D., & Grilo, C. M. (2012). An examination of the food addiction construct in obese patients with binge eating disorder. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 45, 657-663.
Primary use / Purpose:
Background:
Despite the widespread use of the term “food addiction”, often used colloquially, its presence and operationalization in the scientific literature has been and still is a subject of debate. Gearhardt, Corbin, and Brownell developed the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to determine whether the diagnostic criteria for substance dependence were present in eating problems. The scale questions fall under specific criteria that resemble the symptoms for substance dependence as stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-R and operationalized in the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders.
Psychometrics:
Psychometric evaluation of the YFAS is presented in Gearhardt et al. (2009). A clinical validation of the instrument has also been conducted (Gearhardt et al., 2012).
