Turkish Intuitive Eating Scale-3 shows reliable, valid performance in Ankara adults

A Turkish adaptation of the 12-item Intuitive Eating Scale–3 showed acceptable to high internal consistency, excellent test–retest reliability and satisfactory fit to the original four-factor model in an online adult sample from Ankara, Türkiye. Researchers recruited 466 participants whose mean age was 28.24 years, with a standard deviation of 10.66 years, and 68.5% identified as female. The methodological study evaluated the translated scale’s factor structure, internal consistency, repeatability and relationship with the earlier Intuitive Eating Scale–2.

Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire containing sociodemographic information, the Turkish IES–3 and the IES–2. The research team adapted the questionnaire using a standardized forward–backward translation protocol and an expert-panel evaluation. Its statistical analyses were designed for the questionnaire’s ordinal data and the observed violation of multivariate normality. Exploratory factor analysis was performed through minimum rank factor analysis, while confirmatory factor analysis used robust maximum likelihood estimation with the Yuan–Bentler correction. The work assessed measurement properties rather than whether intuitive eating affects health or clinical outcomes.

The exploratory analysis supported a four-factor structure consistent with the original instrument, with the factors jointly explaining 92.05% of the common variance. Confirmatory factor analysis provided further support for this structure. The model’s chi-square ratio was 2.310, its comparative fit index was 0.959 and its Tucker–Lewis index was 0.944. The root mean square error of approximation and standardized root mean square residual were both 0.053. The researchers described these results as indicating a satisfactory model fit, providing evidence that the adapted questionnaire broadly reproduced the four-factor organization of the original scale in the sample studied.

Reliability results were also favorable. Cronbach’s alpha values for the component scales ranged from 0.63 to 0.85, while McDonald’s omega values ranged from 0.69 to 0.85, corresponding to acceptable-to-high internal consistency. Test–retest intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.85 to 0.94, which the study characterized as excellent repeatability. These findings show that scores were internally consistent and stable when participants completed the instrument again, although the results do not establish that the questionnaire is equally reliable outside the population and recruitment setting examined.

Concurrent and construct-related validity were examined by comparing IES–3 scores with the IES–2. The two instruments were positively correlated at Spearman’s rho of 0.716, with p less than 0.001. In multiple regression analysis, IES–2 subscales explained 62.1% of the variance in IES–3 scores. These are observed associations between the measures, not evidence that either scale causes changes in eating behavior. Overall, the authors found that the Turkish IES–3 had acceptable validity and reliability within the studied adult sample and described it as a brief practical tool for researchers and clinicians assessing intuitive eating behaviors. They also emphasized that the evidence came from adults recruited online in Ankara, meaning that validation in more diverse national populations remains necessary.

Subject of Research: Psychometric validation of the Turkish Intuitive Eating Scale–3 in Ankara adults

Article Title: Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Turkish intuitive eating scale-3: a methodological study

Article References: Mengi Çelik, Ö., Akçakaya, S. D., Güler, Ü., Türkmen, V., Kaya, S., & Akansel, E. İ. (2026). Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Turkish intuitive eating scale-3: a methodological study. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05792-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05792-9

Keywords: intuitive eating, psychometric validation, Turkish adaptation, scale reliability, factor analysis, concurrent validity, test–retest reliability, adults, Türkiye, questionnaire, Cross-cultural, adaptation