Turkish Validity and Reliability Study of Reward-Based Eating Drive (RED) Scale

Today, with the spread of Western-style nutrition, pleasure-based nutrition is increasing. Especially the easy access to delicious foods with high sugar, fat and salt content encourages individuals to have a diet based on pleasure rather than energy needs (Lowe, 2003). Reward-based eating behavior can occur in order to reinforce and strengthen positive emotions such as happiness and joy, or to suppress negative emotions such as stress and anxiety (Evers et al., 2013). If reward-based eating is repeated frequently in response to positive or negative emotions, it may underlie the development of eating pathology and binge eating disorder. Therefore, researchers working in the context of health behaviors, nutrition, and metabolic health triad evaluate reward-based eating before, during, and after interventions targeting changes in health behavior (Forman et al., 2013; Mason et al., 2016; Stevenson et al., 2018).

Individuals' degree of reward-based eating is measured by evaluating behaviors such as uncontrolled eating, food craving, food addiction, restrictive eating, and binge eating. Each of the scales focuses on a different aspect of problematic eating behavior (Price et al., 2015; Vainik et al., 2015). For example, the Yale Scale of Eating Addiction considers eating behavior in terms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria. Therefore, only when the problem becomes pathological can they evaluate reward-based eating. Similarly, the Binge Eating Scale evaluates when problematic eating behavior is severe. The Nutrient Power Scale and the Tasty Eating Motivation Scale, on the other hand, evaluate the causes of binge eating behavior and food choice in the environmental context and focus on a less problematic process than the others (Burgess et al., 2014; Davis, 2013; Gearhardt, 2016; Lowe et al., 2009) . Each developed scale better measures one aspect of reward-based eating behavior. For example, a scale that assesses the urge to eat may measure less uncontrolled eating. While the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire measures emotional eating better, it measures less uncontrolled eating and binge eating (Gormally et al., 1982). All sub-dimensions indicate the stages of the person's pathology of binge eating. For example, people with high impulsivity about eating use food to cope with emotions over time and eventually develop binge eating disorder. Theoretical and experimental evidence suggests that none of these scales comprehensively assess reward-based eating (Davis, 2013).

In order to comprehensively evaluate this issue, the Reward-Based Eating Impulse Scale (RED-9) was developed by Epel et al., which aims to address all spectrums of reward-based eating (Epel et al., 2014). RED-9 is associated with body mass index (BMI) and also predicts changes in BMI over time. In a study of obese women, food craving was shown to be associated with higher RED-9 scores. Although RED-9 is short and simple to apply, it is unclear whether it assesses the full spectrum of reward-based eating (Mason et al., 2015; Mason et al., 2016). RED-13 assesses three dimensions of reward-based eating: lack of control over eating, inability to achieve satiety, and constant preoccupation with food. It has been shown that reduction in reward-based eating behavior may mediate the effect of obesity treatment on weight loss.

This research; The Turkish validity and reliability study of the "Reward-Based Eating Impulse Scale-13" developed by Ashley E. Mason was conducted to provide a new measurement tool for our country. At the same time, the study will provide a database for intervention studies to eliminate the effects of reward-based eating urge. Identifying reward-based eating in the middle and lower ranges of the eating disorder spectrum may contribute to halting the growing obesity epidemic. The Reward-Based Eating Impulse Scale will help researchers and clinicians to identify individuals who lack control over eating, cannot feel full, and are constantly preoccupied with eating.

Research Question Is the "Reward-based Eating Drive Scale (RED)" a valid and reliable measurement tool for Turkish society?