Reliability and Validity of the Malay Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-M) among Overweight and Obese Adults

Siti Munirah Abdul Basir, Zahara Abdul Manaf, Mahadir Ahmad, Nor Ba’yah Abdul Kadir, Wan Nur Khairunnisa Ismail, Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin and Suzana Shahar
Additional contact information
Siti Munirah Abdul Basir: Dietetic Program and Centre for Healthy Aging and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Zahara Abdul Manaf: Dietetic Program and Centre for Healthy Aging and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Mahadir Ahmad: Clinical Psychology & Behavioural Health Program, Center for Community Health Studies (ReACH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Nor Ba’yah Abdul Kadir: Centre for Research in Psychology and Human Well-being, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
Wan Nur Khairunnisa Ismail: Centre for Research in Psychology and Human Well-being, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin: Biomedical Science Program and Centre for Healthy Aging and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia
Suzana Shahar: Dietetic Program and Centre for Healthy Aging and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: The Mindful Eating Questionnaire is a reliable tool for the assessment of mindful eating behavior among the general population. This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of The Malay Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ-M) in a sample of overweight and obese adults. This is a cross-sectional survey which involved 144 overweight and obese adults in a selected public university. After linguistic validation of the Malay version of the MEQ, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax rotation was performed on the scale constructs. The psychometric properties of the MEQ were assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis. The EFA of the MEQ produced a seven-dimensional model (58.8% of overall variances). The concurrent validity analysis between total MEQ scores and total Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) scores indicated a weak non-significant correlation ( p = 0.679). The internal consistency reliability of the MEQ was reasonable (Cronbach’s α = 0.64). The agreement stability of the MEQ over eight weeks was poor (ICC = 0.10). In conclusion, the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated MEQ are acceptable through construct validity and internal consistency reliability tests. This instrument may be used for assessing mindful eating habits in the Malaysian population, especially among overweight and obese adults.

Keywords: mindfulness; obesity; MEQ; reliability; validity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1021/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/1021/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:1021-:d:486131

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().