The validation of the Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Behavior Scale (HUEBS): Examining the interplay between stages of change and motivation and their association with healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors and physical health

The purpose of the present research was to examine how self-determined and non-self-determined motivation for eating was related to healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors at different stages of change. In Study 1 (n = 360), the structure of a new scale designed to measure healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors based on recent recommendations of the Canadian Food Guide was examined through Principal Component Analysis. Study 2 (n = 711) retested the structure of the scale and also examined whether women reported different patterns of motivation and eating behaviors depending on their stage of change for eating regulation. In Study 3 (n = 264), moderated mediation models were used to examine if eating behaviors served to mediate the relationship between motivation and waist circumference, and whether stages of change moderated the link from motivation to eating behaviors. Overall, the studies provided evidence for the 2-factor structure of the scale, where the first factor represents healthy eating and the second factor represents unhealthy eating behaviors. It was also demonstrated that as women moved along the stages of change for eating regulation, they reported higher levels of self-determined motivation and lower levels of non-self-determined motivation, as well as a higher consumption of healthy foods and a lower consumption of unhealthy foods. Finally, findings indicated that healthy eating fully mediated the relationship between self-determined motivation and waist circumference, and that the relationship between self-determined motivation and healthy eating was moderated by stages of change. Together, these studies highlight the interactive roles of motivation and stages of change in their association with healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors, as well as the importance of healthy eating for a lower waist circumference.