Validity and reliability of Turkish version of the Food–Mood Questionnaire for university students

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Food–Mood Questionnaire (FMQ) for university students. DESIGN: The original questionnaire developed by Begdache et al. (2019) was modified and translated into Turkish. The content validation ratio (CVR) and the content validity index (CVI) were used for content validity assessment. The construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on data collected on university students who completed the survey online. Pearson’s correlation coefficients and Cronbach’s α were used to assess reliability and validity (P < 0·05). SETTING: This study was conducted at five different universities in Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 251 (67 males and 184 females) undergraduate students participated in the study. Of these, seventy-five students completed a pre- and post-test assessment. RESULTS: In the current study, 251 university students with a mean age of 21·9 ± 4·1 years participated. The mean CVR and CVI were 0·96 and 0·98, respectively. Factor loadings ranged from 0·341 to 0·863, and item total score correlations ranged from 0·142 to 0·749. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0·633 for the whole scale. Five factors were extracted that had a good fit in CFA (χ (2)/DF = 1·37, root mean error of approximation: 0·039, goodness-of-fit index: 0·911 and comparative fit index: 0·933). CONCLUSIONS: The Turkish FMQ is a valid and a reliable tool for university students. FMQ can be used by clinicians or researchers to examine the mental distress and dietary patterns of university students. Further testing of the FMQ is required for validation in the general population.