The construction and preliminary validation of an instrument to assess the food fantasies of individuals with eating disorders

Graduation date: 1987The study's goal was to develop and initially validate the Food\ud Fantasies Questionnaire, a self-report therapeutic and research\ud instrument which assesses the occurrence and content of highly\ud irrational food cognitions (fantasies) common to eating disorders in\ud relation to seven theoretically derived factors characterisic of the\ud disorders: fear, anxiety, revulsion, pleasure, gender, animation and\ud control. Whether food fantasies can be grouped by common factors,\ud and if the fantasies as described reflected their designated factor\ud was also investigated.\ud One hundred and ten (110) fantasy-items were evaluated and\ud designated represesntative of a factor by a DELPHI Panel. The final\ud tool contained 42 items, six per factor. A six-point Likert scale\ud indicated the frequency of occurrence. The instrument was\ud administered by specialized therapists to 52 young women in\ud outpatient individual and/or group therapy for anorexia, bulimia,\ud bulimia nervosa or compulsive overeating.\ud The reliability coeffeciant was +.9411. The seven factor\ud solution of the R-mode analysis extracted 39 fantasies with factor\ud loadings equal to or above +.44. The generated factors were\ud labeled: Control Fears and Anxieties; Animation and Ambivalence;\ud Gender and Social Acceptance; Autonomous versus Conscious\ud Control of Food Thoughts; Pleasure; Animation, Childlike\ud Reasoning; and Revulsion. It is concluded that fantasies can be\ud grouped by factors, four which were similar to those designated by\ud the DELPHI Panel. Fear and Anxiety appear to address the same\ud trait and are related to Control. The research design utilizing a\ud priori factors, the DELPHI Technique and factor analysis shows\ud promise as a method of establishing initial validity