Abstract

This study aimed to validate the Anticipated Effects of Food Scale (AEFS) developed to measure food expectancy. The factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Korean version of the AEFS (K-AEFS) were investigated in 477 undergraduate students. The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the K-AEFS showed that both highly processed and minimally processed foods had a two-factor structure of positive and negative expectancies. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and divergent validity were good. Food expectancies of the K-AEFS were positively correlated with eating expectancies. Positive and negative expectancies toward highly processed food and negative expectancies toward minimally processed food were positively correlated with food addiction symptoms and emotional eating. Restrained eating showed no correlation with positive expectancy, but positively correlated with negative expectancy toward highly processed and minimally processed food. Furthermore, incremental validity was confirmed in that there was further power of food expectancies than the general eating expectancy toward food addiction symptoms. The present results suggest that the K-AEFS is a valid scale for measuring both positive and negative expectancies toward specific foods.