Chinese Version of the Nine Item ARFID Screen: Psychometric Properties and Cross-Cultural Measurement Invariance

Objective: The current study aimed to provide initial psychometric evidence for a Chinese version of the Nine-Item ARFID Screen (C-NIAS), which measures the symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), including picky eating, poor appetite/limited interest in eating, and fear of aversive consequences from eating. Method: The NIAS was translated into Chinese according to standard procedures. A total of 1,069 college students from mainland China responded to the C-NIAS. The factor structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed using regression analyses. Finally, measurement invariance was tested, and latent mean differences were compared, between Chinese and American college samples. Results: The measure’s original three-factor structure was confirmed. Strong measurement invariance between college samples of the United States and China was supported, and Chinese students had significantly higher latent mean scores on all three factors. The subscales showed the expected patterns of correlations with other validity constructs. Conclusions: The C-NIAS shows good psychometric characteristics and holds promise to facilitate much-needed research on subclinical symptoms of this understudied eating disorder in Chinese-speaking adult populations. Moreover, Chinese college students demonstrate greater potential ARFID symptomatology than American counterparts. More attention to ARFID should be called for in China.