Dimensional Structure, Psychometric Properties, and Sex and Ethnic Invariance of a Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) Translation of the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2)

The Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2; Tylka & Kroon Van Diest, 2013) is a widely-used measure of facets of intuitive eating. We examined the psychometric properties of a Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) translation of the IES-2 in a sample of Malaysian Malay and Chinese adults (N = 921). Participants completed a Malay translation of the IES-2 along with demographic items and measures of psychological well-being, positive and negative body image, and internalisation of appearance ideals. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) with Malay subsamples indicated that IES-2 scores reduced to 4 factors in women and 3 in men, both of which diverged from the parent model. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the parent 4-factor model, and indices for the EFA-derived models were acceptable but not ideal. Of the models tested, the EFA-derived 3-factor model had the best fit indices. Scores on this model had adequate internal consistency and were invariant across sex and ethnicity, but between-group differences in subscale scores were non-significant or negligible. Evidence of the construct validity of Malay IES-2 scores was mixed, particularly in men. These results lead us to question the degree to which intuitive eating as a construct is applicable to Malaysian populations specifically and non-Western populations generally.