RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In its relation to eating disorders, pride is one of the self-conscious emotions least analyzed, and requires valid and reliable instruments for its measurement. This study aimed to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale (PEP-S), in the Spanish general population, as well as between-sex differences in PEP-S scores. METHODS: Of the 1483 participants aged 18 to 34 (M = 21.99; SD = 3.09), 954 were women (65.2%) and the majority were university students (78.8%). Psychometric properties of the scale were tested in a cross-sectional design using cross-validation, i.e., exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and estimation of invariance (sex). RESULTS: The four-factor structure found was similar to the original scale with invariance across sex and internal consistency (ordinal alpha .99) and stability (.85). Evidence of convergent validity and differences between sexes were found. Specifically, women scored higher on all the factors, including the healthier sense of pride. CONCLUSIONS: The PEP-S scale is an instrument with evidence of validity and reliability in the Spanish population. Although it still has to be tested in a clinical population, it constitutes a promising instrument for the evaluation of the self-conscious emotion, pride.
The study of eating disorders emphasizes the role of certain emotions, such as pride, for example, in achieving a low weight or controlling eating behavior. We propose the Spanish validation of the Pride in Eating Pathology Scale (PEP-S), developed by Faija et al. (2017), to measure this type of complex or self-conscious emotions. This article confirms the usefulness of the PEP-S in the context of the general population, different from the context of the clinical population in which it was validated, which implies a generalization of its possibilities. In addition, as a novelty, it includes male participants, who are also subjected to the social pressure on body and appearance. This validation of the PEP-S was carried out in a large sample of men and women aged 18 to 34, a time of life when concerns about the body and eating behavior acquire importance. It is worth special mention that the results of its designers were confirmed, with psychometric indicators guaranteeing that the instrument can be used with consistency of measurement (reliability) and usefulness (validity) in the general population. Men and women respond to the instrument the same, that is, they understand the scale the same way. The scores of women on the PEP-S are higher in terms of pride about the body and eating behavior. Future studies should test these promising results in a clinical population.
