BY WILLIAM E. O'DONNELL, PHD, MPH AND W. L. WARREN, PHD
Get a relevant psychological profile and personalized plan of action in just 20 minutes
Recent surveys indicate that nearly half of all American children are overweight. While most instruments related to eating behavior focus on bulimia and anorexia, the Overeating Questionnaire (OQ) measures key habits, thoughts, and attitudes related to obesity. Appropriate for individuals as young as 9 years of age, it can be extremely helpful in designing effective individualized weight-reduction programs.
The OQ is an 80-item self-report questionnaire that can be group or individually administered in about 20 minutes. (Items are written at a fourth-grade reading level.) It yields the following scores:
Overeating
Undereating
Craving
Expectations About Eating
Rationalizations
Motivation to Lose Weight
Health Habits
Body Image
Social Isolation
Affective Disturbance
The first six scores relate to eating habits and attitudes, while the last four help identify problems that may need to be addressed concurrently with obesity. Two additional scores—Inconsistent Responding and Defensiveness —assess response bias. Norms are based on a nationally representative sample of 1,788 individuals aged 9 to 98.
Clients trust a treatment plan based on scientifically valid and defensible evidence
OQ scores correlate with other measures of eating-related characteristics, body mass index, health habits, mood disturbance, social functioning, and successful engagement in weight-loss activities. Information generated by the OQ is invaluable in planning effective individualized weight-loss programs. And because the test can be administered and scored by any trained and supervised technician, it is a practical and cost-effective addition to any treatment effort focused on weight loss and related psychological problems.
BY WILLIAM E. O'DONNELL, PHD, MPH AND W. L. WARREN, PHD
Get a relevant psychological profile and personalized plan of action in just 20 minutes
Recent surveys indicate that nearly half of all American children are overweight. While most instruments related to eating behavior focus on bulimia and anorexia, the Overeating Questionnaire (OQ) measures key habits, thoughts, and attitudes related to obesity. Appropriate for individuals as young as 9 years of age, it can be extremely helpful in designing effective individualized weight-reduction programs.
The OQ is an 80-item self-report questionnaire that can be group or individually administered in about 20 minutes. (Items are written at a fourth-grade reading level.) It yields the following scores:
Overeating
Undereating
Craving
Expectations About Eating
Rationalizations
Motivation to Lose Weight
Health Habits
Body Image
Social Isolation
Affective Disturbance
The first six scores relate to eating habits and attitudes, while the last four help identify problems that may need to be addressed concurrently with obesity. Two additional scores—Inconsistent Responding and Defensiveness —assess response bias. Norms are based on a nationally representative sample of 1,788 individuals aged 9 to 98.
Clients trust a treatment plan based on scientifically valid and defensible evidence
OQ scores correlate with other measures of eating-related characteristics, body mass index, health habits, mood disturbance, social functioning, and successful engagement in weight-loss activities. Information generated by the OQ is invaluable in planning effective individualized weight-loss programs. And because the test can be administered and scored by any trained and supervised technician, it is a practical and cost-effective addition to any treatment effort focused on weight loss and related psychological problems.