Dysfunctional Eating Attitudes Scale (DEAS) Test

For people examining uneasy patterns around food, appetite, weight, or eating, the Dysfunctional Eating Attitudes Scale (DEAS) Test offers a structured self-report profile. Its eating attitudes assessment combines food judgments with questions about cravings, rigid rules, restriction, compensatory behavior, and emotional strain, so readers can see how these concerns cluster across the result. The profile highlights areas that may deserve closer attention.

What the Questionnaire Measures

Questions in this food attitude questionnaire cover beliefs, cravings, restriction, emotions, and weight anxiety. Results are six scales:

• Food Craving (3-15) measures urge intensity; higher scores may indicate overeating: Low 3-6; Moderate 7-11; High 12-15.
• Beliefs About Normal Eating (14-70) measures healthy-eating views: Balanced views 14-32; Mixed/rigid tendencies 33-51; Highly rigid beliefs 52-70.
• Restrictive and Compensatory Practices (4-20) measures weight-control strategies: Low 4-9; Moderate 10-14; High 15-20.
• Concerns About Eating and Weight Gain (4-20) measures weight anxiety: Low concern 4-9; Moderate concern 10-14; High concern 15-20.
• Relationship With Food (12-60) measures eating attitudes: More balanced 12-27; Some difficulties 28-43; Marked difficulties 44-60.
• Dysfunctional Eating Beliefs (37-185) measures maladaptive beliefs: Low 37-49; Moderate 50-72; High 73-185.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

The items use three response formats: judgments about whether foods are healthy or necessary, yes/no questions about experiences and practices, and five frequency choices ranging from Always to Rarely/never. Together, they sample food beliefs, appetite, restriction, emotional reactions, calorie concerns, and worries about weight.

Scoring groups responses into the six displayed scores and places each result within the stated range and band. The questionnaire does not specify per-response weights, so readers should interpret the displayed bands rather than infer a point-by-point formula. Together, the responses show how this eating behavior self-assessment organizes reported thoughts and habits across the profile.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the Disordered Eating Attitude Scale, especially its attention to disordered eating attitudes, restriction, emotional responses, and weight concerns. That instrument's psychometric study evaluated it among female university students in Brazil; its findings do not establish norms or revalidation for this online version. Because self-report is shaped by current context, self-awareness, and response bias, the displayed bands are interpretive rather than diagnostic.