ARFID Test for Adults: How Selective Is Your Eating?
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Almost always
ARFID Test for Adults: How Selective Is Your Eating? - Description and methodology of the test
Some adults eat the same handful of foods for years, gag at certain textures or simply forget that lunch exists. If that sounds familiar, this ARFID test helps you see how far it goes and where it comes from. Selective eating in adults is far more common than most people think, and it rarely comes down to simple fussiness.
What the test measures
The questionnaire looks at the three presentations of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, a condition the American Psychiatric Association added to the DSM-5 in 2013 and that Zickgraf and Ellis later described as three separate eating patterns. Sensory sensitivity covers the classic food aversion: textures, smells, dishes where everything is mixed and the one brand you trust. Fear of consequences covers worry about choking, being sick or stomach pain after a meal, and the precautions that follow. Low interest in eating covers a small appetite, forgotten meals and the feeling that food is a chore. Each driver gets its own score, and together they add up to your selective eating level from 0 to 100. Knowing which driver leads matters more than the total.
How the test works and how to read the result
You rate 25 short statements about everyday eating, from Never to Almost always. Items for the three drivers are mixed, and a few describe relaxed, easy eating, so it pays to read each one carefully. The whole questionnaire takes about 5 minutes. Unlike a quick picky eating test for adults that only counts the foods you dislike, the result explains why your menu stays narrow. You get:
- your overall level from 0 to 100, marked low, moderate or high;
- the driver that shapes your eating most and the one that matters least;
- the everyday situations behind your score, from a lump in a sauce to a skipped lunch;
- a comparison with other people in your country.
Read the three scores together. A high sensory score with low fear usually means a narrow but stable menu, while rising fear on top of it tends to shrink the list further. Retaking the test after a few months shows whether your circle of foods is growing.
- Zickgraf, H. F., & Ellis, J. M. (2018). Initial validation of the Nine Item Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake disorder screen (NIAS): A measure of three restrictive eating patterns. Appetite, 123, 32-42.
- Thomas, J. J., Lawson, E. A., Micali, N., Misra, M., Deckersbach, T., & Eddy, K. T. (2017). Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder: A three-dimensional model of neurobiology with implications for etiology and treatment. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(8), 54.
- Kauer, J., Pelchat, M. L., Rozin, P., & Zickgraf, H. F. (2015). Adult picky eating. Phenomenology, taste sensitivity, and psychological correlates. Appetite, 90, 219-228.
- Pliner, P., & Hobden, K. (1992). Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans. Appetite, 19(2), 105-120.
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