Compensatory Health Motivations and Behaviors Scale

Abstract

The Compensatory Health Motivations and Behaviors (CHMB) Scale, developed by Sedemedes et al. (2023), is a specialized instrument designed to quantify general compensatory health motivations and behaviors (CHMBs) related to weight management. The development process began with an extensive item generation phase, starting with an open-ended questionnaire and refining an initial pool of 34 items, many of which were adapted from the existing drunkorexia motivations and behaviors scale (Ward & Galante, 2015).

The core objective of these items was to capture the nuanced aspects of CHMBs, focusing on the specific occasions for their use, the underlying motivations, and the associated emotional responses. Validation of the resulting 17-item scale was conducted using a representative sample of Canadian adults. Rigorous psychometric evaluation, involving both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), confirmed a robust four-factor structure, demonstrating strong reliability and validity for the measure.

Keywords

Compensatory Behaviors, Compensatory Use for Special Occasions, Divergent Validity, Food-Related CHBs, General Compensatory Use, Motivations for Using Compensation, Body Weight, Eating Behavior, Food, Health Behavior, Motivation, Reinforcement, Health Behavior Measures.

Authors

Sedemedes, Kalista; Knäuper, Bärbel; Sadikaj, Gentiana; Yuan, Trista Yue; Wrosch, Carsten; Santosa, Sylvia; Alberga, Angela S.; Kakinami, Lisa.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CHMB Scale is to provide a standardized, psychometrically sound measure for assessing the frequency and intensity of general weight-related compensatory health motivations and behaviors.

This measurement tool is critical for researchers and clinicians studying eating disorders, obesity prevention, and general health behaviors, as it quantifies behavioral strategies individuals employ to counteract perceived caloric intake or maintain a desired weight, separate from clinical diagnoses of conditions like bulimia nervosa, which involve more severe behaviors.

Construct

The CHMB Scale measures the construct of Compensatory Health Motivations and Behaviors. This construct encompasses conscious efforts and motivations to offset perceived unhealthy behaviors (such as overeating or consuming high-calorie foods) through subsequent actions aimed at weight control or health maintenance.

The construct is dimensional, capturing not just the behaviors themselves but also the cognitive and motivational drivers behind them, including their use in specific contexts (like social occasions) or their general frequency related to food intake.

Validity

The scale’s validation process provided strong evidence for both convergent and divergent validity. The factors identified within the CHMB Scale showed a significant association with increased cognitive restraint in eating, a link established through multiple linear regression analyses that controlled for demographic variables such as age and sex.

The findings indicated moderately positive unadjusted correlations between the CHMB factors and cognitive restraint. Since cognitive restraint is a well-established construct linked to higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and modified food consumption patterns, this consistency suggests good convergent validity. Furthermore, the moderate nature of the correlation indicates that while related to established measures of eating behavior, the CHMB Scale maintains sufficient distinctiveness, supporting its divergent validity.

Reliability

The reliability of the CHMB Scale was rigorously evaluated, focusing on internal consistency across its factors. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients.

The resulting alpha coefficients ranged from 0.776 to 0.882 across the scale’s factors, falling within the generally accepted range for good psychological scale reliability. This confirms that the items within each factor measure the underlying construct consistently.

Factor Analysis

The factor structure of the CHMB Scale was established through a two-step process: exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): An EFA employing an oblique promax rotation was used initially to determine the underlying structure of the 34-item pool. This analysis ultimately supported a concise four-factor structure for the final 17-item measure.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): CFA was subsequently performed to validate the proposed four-factor structure. The fit indices (including GFI, CFI, SRMR, RMSEA, and Bentler-Bonett NFI) obtained across all four models tested met the recommended thresholds cited in psychometric literature (e.g., Hu & Bentler, 1999), indicating a strong model fit. Although four different models, including two higher-order structures, were evaluated with comparable fit statistics, the researchers selected a single-order structure (Model 2) as the final model, citing specific theoretical reasons detailed in the source publication.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: All 17 items of the CHMB Scale are rated on a 5-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human (Male and Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older)

Population Details: The validation was conducted on a representative Canadian adult sample.

Test Methodology: The methodology included evaluations of Test Validity, Convergent Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Alternate Test Names: CHMB Scale

Instrument Type: Inventory/Questionnaire

Construct: Compensatory Health Motivations and Behaviors

Administration Method: Electronic

Number of Items: This is a 17-item measure.

Factors and Subscales: The identified factors are: Motivations for using compensation; Compensatory use for special occasions; General compensatory use; Food-related CHBs.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Kalista Sedemedes: Department of Psychology, Concordia University

• Bärbel Knäuper: Department of Psychology, McGill University

• Gentiana Sadikaj: Department of Psychology, McGill University

• Trista Yue Yuan: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, Food, Nutrition and Health, University of British Columbia

• Carsten Wrosch: Department of Psychology, Concordia University

• Sylvia Santosa: Department of Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, Concordia University

• Angela S. Alberga: Department of Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, Concordia University

• Lisa Kakinami: School of Health, Concordia University, [email protected]

Correspondence Address:
Lisa Kakinami: Concordia University, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, 1455 de Maisonneuve West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3G 1M8, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

References

Sedemedes, K., Knäuper, B., Sadikaj, G., Yuan, T. Y., Wrosch, C., Santosa, S., Alberga, A. S., & Kakinami, L. (2023). Compensatory health motivations and behaviors scale: Development, evaluation, psychometric properties and a preliminary validation. Appetite, 191, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.107075

Items of the Compensatory Health Motivations and Behaviors Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

No data is Available