Development of the Eating Behaviors and Attitudes Inventory (EBAI)

The purpose of this research study is to develop the Eating Behaviors and Attitudes Inventory (EBAI) as a diagnostic tool and educational device. The EBAI is an instrument that measures women's ability to self-regulate eating behaviors when faced with eating stress. A sample of 100 female students ranging in ages of 14-23 completed the Eating Behaviors and Attitudes Inventory. The participants consisted of 90 undergraduate women who were enrolled in an introductory psychology course and attended a large university in the Southeast. The sample also contained 10 female high school students who attended a charter high school in the Southeast. The EBAI is comprised of a behavior and attitude checklist. The participants recalled four episodes of eating stress and completed the instrument accordingly. The development of the EBAI yielded a total of 84 items: 60 behavioral items and 24 attitudinal items. The results showed that 11 of 60 behavioral items and 14 of 24 attitudinal items discriminated among four levels of eating stress. For both the behavior and attitude scales, every item was endorsed by at least once one individual and none of the items were endorsed by every individual. In addition, the behavior items were aggregated into nine domains of self-regulation of which 4 of the 9 domains varied among levels. The findings also indicated that individual's employ an average of 9.8 mechanisms along all levels of eating stress. The implications of findings for further research and potential uses of the EBAI are described.