Table 2.
Dependent variables and additional used in analysis
| Dependent variables | Item | Categorization/scoring | Psychometric properties |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less extreme weight control behaviors | Have you done any of the following things in order to lose weight or keep from gaining weight during the past year? | Yes on one or more of: 1) fasted; 2) ate very little food; 3) used food substitute (powder/special drink); 4) skipped meals; and 5) smoked more cigarettes | test-retest agreement=85% |
| More extreme weight control behaviors | Have you done any of the following things in order to lose weight or keep from gaining weight during the past year? | Yes on one or more of: 1) took diet pills; 2) made myself vomit; 3) used laxatives; and 4) used diuretics | test-retest agreement=96% |
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| Less extreme muscle enhancing | How often have you done each of the following things in order to increase your muscle size or tone during the past year? | Rarely, sometimes or often for either: 1) using protein powders or shakes; 2) using a pre-workout drink (e.g., Jack3D, OxyElite Pro) | test-retest r=0.79 (protein) test-retest r=0.63 (drink) |
| More extreme muscle enhancing | How often have you done each of the following things in order to increase your muscle size or tone during the past year? | Rarely, sometimes or often for either: 1) using steroids; 2) using another muscle building substance (e.g., creatine, amino acids, DHEA) | test-retest r=0.59 (steroids) test-retest r=0.74 (other substance) |
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| Body satisfaction (Pingitore, Spring, & Garfield, 1997) | How satisfied are you with your: height, weight, body shape, waist, hips, thighs, stomach, face, body build, shoulders, muscles, chest, overall body fat | 5 responses ranging from 1 (“very dissatisfied”) to 5 (“very satisfied”). Summary scores ranged from 13 to 65. | alpha=0.93 test-retest r=0.82 |
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| Self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965) | Six items, e.g., “I feel that I have a number of good qualities.” | 4 responses ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Summary scores ranged from 6–24. | alpha=0.85 test-retest r = 0.81 |
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| Depressive symptoms (Kandel & Davies, 1982) | Six items, e.g. “During the past 12 months, how often have you been bothered or troubled by feeling unhappy, sad, or depressed?” | 3 responses ranging from 1 (not at all) to 3 (very much). Summary scores ranged from 6–18. | alpha=0.84 test-retest r=0.77 |
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| Additional variables | |||
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| Nature of the relationship | What is your relationship status? | Casually dating, in a committed relationship or engaged, married, domestic partnership | test-retest agreement=97% |
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| Length of the relationship | How long have you and your significant other been together as a couple? | 5 categories ranging from less than 3 months to more than 5 years were reduced to three categories: less than 1 year, 1–5 years or greater than 5 years | test-retest r=0.94 |
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| Body mass index | Self-report of height and weight* | Weight in Kilograms/(Height in Meters)2 | test-retest r=0.98 (height) test-retest r=0.97 (weight) |
*
Self-report of height and weight were previously validated in EAT-III in a subsample of 63 male and 62 female participants for whom height and weight measurements were completed by trained research staff. Results showed very high correlations between self-reported BMI and measured BMI in men (r=0.95) and women (r=0.98) (Quick, Wall, Larson, Haines, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2013)