Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Reward-Based Eating Drive Scale (RED-13) and Its Brief Version (RED-5X) in Three European Countries

Background and aims: Reward-based eating reflects hedonic drivers of intake, including loss of control, diminished satiety, and preoccupation with food. We translated, adapted and studied the psychometric properties of the 13- and 5-item Reward-Based Eating Drive Scale (RED), for Portugal, Poland and Italy. Methods: A cross-cultural study was conducted with higher education students and general population samples (n = 1999). After translation and cultural adaptation, the RED was administered with food craving items, and collection of sociodemographic and anthropometric data. Factorial structure and measurement invariance were tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha, and convergent validity via correlations with BMI and cravings. Results: CFA supported the expected structures of the RED-13 (three factors) and RED-X5 (unifactorial), with configural and metric invariance across countries and groups. Only partial scalar invariance was achieved for both versions. The RED-13 showed good to excellent internal consistency for total scores (0.868 ≤ α ≤ 0.906), with acceptable to good reliability for Loss of control (0.769 ≤ α ≤ 0.821), lower values for Lack of satiety (0.655 ≤ α ≤ 0.723), and good to excellent consistency for Preoccupation with food (0.881 ≤ α ≤ 0.918). The RED-X5 showed acceptable internal consistency (0.737 ≤ α ≤ 0.811) and correlated strongly with RED-13 (r = 0.949, p < 0.001). Both correlated positively with BMI and food cravings. Age, sex, and country had small to medium multivariate effects on RED scores. Conclusions: The RED-13 and RED-X5 showed good psychometric properties in Portugal, Poland, and Italy, with the RED-13 providing a multifactorial assessment and the RED-X5 offering a brief alternative.