Exploring the Factor Structure, Reliability and Validity of the Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait in Iranian adults

Background & Aims: Food Craving refers to an intense desire for eating specific foods. Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) is the most commonly used instrument to assess food craving as a multidimensional construct. Its 39 items have an underlying nine-factor structure for both the original English and Spanish versions; but subsequent studies yielded fewer factors. The present study aimed to explore the factor structure of the Persian version of FCQ-T. Methods: A total of 340 Iranian adults participated in this study. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate construct validity. Further, Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) and The Restraint Scale (RS) were used for measuring concurrent and discriminant validity. Results: Result revealed a five-factor structure for the Persian version of FCQ-T, which explained 60% of the variance.The five factors were: 1) lack of control under environmental cues, 2) thoughts or preoccupation with food, 3) hedonic hunger, 4) emotions before or during food craving, and 5) guilt from craving. Results showed satisfactory internal consistency for the Persian version of FCQ-T and its factors (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.76 to 0.96), as well as good test-retest reliability (0.76 to 0.86). Strong correlations between FCQ-T and external eating, emotional eating and concern for dieting as well as weak correlation between FCQ-T and restrained eating indicated appropriate concurrent and discriminant validity. Conclusion: Results indicated that Persian version of Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait has appropriate psychometric properties and could be a useful tool in clinical and research settings.