Ten Years of the Yale Food Addiction Scale: a Review of Version 2.0

Purpose of ReviewThe Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) is a self-report questionnaire for the assessment of addiction-like consumption of high-calorie, processed foods. The original scale was developed in 2009 and-for its tenth anniversary-we now review studies using its revised version-the YFAS 2.0.Recent FindingsThe 11 symptoms of food addiction as measured with the YFAS 2.0 demonstrated high internal reliability and a unidimensional structure in several studies, supporting construct validity. Similar to the original YFAS, highest prevalence rates of YFAS 2.0 diagnoses were found in individuals with bulimia nervosa, followed by binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, subthreshold eating disorders, obesity, and unselected samples. Scores on the YFAS 2.0 were associated with other disordered eating behaviors and several co-morbid mental disorders.SummaryThe YFAS 2.0 is an internal reliable measure that shows factorial validity, yet more studies are needed that demonstrate retest-reliability and predictive validity. Prevalence rates and correlates of YFAS 2.0 diagnoses are largely similar to those observed with the original YFAS.