Validation and Reliability of the Turkish Version of the Mindful Eating Inventory in Adults

Objectives: This study examined the validity and reliability of the Mindful Eating Inventory (MEI) to measure mindful eating in Turkish adults. Method: Reliability analysis was conducted with 300 adults (mean age 25.7±8.56 years and 51.0% men), and validation analysis was performed with 312 adults (mean age 25.9±10.87 years and 59.6% women). Data were collected through a web-based survey that contained socio-demographic characteristics, the MEI, the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ), and anthropometric measurements. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify the structure of the factors. Internal consistency reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients and the test–retest method. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the EFA-obtained model. Results: The scale’s Cronbach α and McDonald’s ω coefficients were 0.82 and 0.83, respectively, thus indicating that the scale was reliable. The intraclass correlation coefficient was good at 0.78. The EFA revealed that the questionnaire items grouped naturally into 7 distinct subscales. The factor loadings of the items were between 0.58 and 0.86 (explaining 62.9% of the variance). The fit indices were acceptable with χ 2/df (2.75), CFI (0.93), RMSEA (0.06), SRMR (0.07), and TLI (0.92). A positive correlation was determined between total MEI and MEQ scores (r= 0.425; p<0.001). Conclusions: The Turkish version of MEI, consisting of 7 subscales and 28 items, is a valid and reliable tool to measure mindful eating in Turkish adults. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered.