Abstract

Reward-related eating (RRE), which refers to the behavior of compulsively eating food despite not feeling hungry for the rewarding experience, is considered as a major factor causing pathological overeating and obesity in modern society. There are various existing measurement tools related to RRE, but main aspects to be measured and the severity of RRE reflected by each scale are different. Accordingly, the Reward-based Eating Drive-13 (RED-13) was recently developed as a tool to measure the entire range from normal to pathological level of compulsive overeating desire. The purpose of this study is to translate the RED-13 into Korean and to examine its reliability and validity in college students. Result of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the Korean version of the RED-13 consisted of three factors: loss of control, preoccupation with food, and lack of satiety. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were found to be good. The Korean version of the RED-13 showed a positive correlation with various eating behaviors and food craving. It also showed a strong positive correlation with binge eating behavior and food addiction as well as a tendency of positive correlation with BMI. These results suggest that the Korean version of the RED-13 is a reliable and valid tool for assessing an individual's level of RRE.