The psychometric evaluation of the Revised Exercise Addiction Inventory: Improved psychometric properties by changing item response rating

Szabó, Attila and Pinto, Amit and Griffiths, Mark D. and Kovácsik, Rita and Demetrovics, Zsolt (2019) The psychometric evaluation of the Revised Exercise Addiction Inventory: Improved psychometric properties by changing item response rating. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 8 (1). pp. 157-161. ISSN 2062-5871 (print); 2063-5303 (online)

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Abstract

Background: The Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) is a short, valid, and reliable instrument used to assess the risk for exercise addiction, and has already been used in numerous published studies. The EAI contains six items, rated on a 5-point scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree), which are based on the components model of addiction. The middle of the original scale (scoring 3 out of 5) reflects neither agreement nor disagreement, which conveys neutrality. However, the present authors believe that individual who provides a neutral opinion on each item (i.e., scoring 3) is a conceptual dilemma because it artificially increases the total score obtainable on the scale without yielding agreement or disagreement with a particular item. Indeed, the six items of the EAI are phrased in such way that respondents can either agree or disagree in the slightly to strongly range. Methods: This study modified the EAI from a 5-point rating scale to a 6-point one, so that it eliminated a middle neutral response. A total of 277 exercising participants completed the Revised Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI-R) and Exercise Dependence Scale. Results: All psychometric properties of the EAI-R were superior to the originally published scale. Conclusion: Considering these findings, it is recommended that scholars now use the EAI-R in the future research if they need to assess the risk of exercise addiction.

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