{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T17:25:46Z","timestamp":1786123546545,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Excessive consumption of sugar-rich foods is associated with adverse metabolic and health outcomes. Beyond the amount of sugar consumed, growing evidence suggests that some individuals experience maladaptive patterns of sugar-rich food consumption characterized by craving, loss of control, and persistence despite negative consequences. However, existing instruments primarily assess general food addiction or eating disorders and may not adequately capture behavioral patterns specifically related to sugar-rich products.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The sugar misuse questionnaire (SuMQ) was developed using a mixed-methods approach. First, a qualitative study was conducted with individuals reporting severe difficulties related to sugar-rich food consumption to identify salient experiential dimensions of sugar misuse (SuM). Key themes were extracted through thematic analysis and used to generate questionnaire items. Second, the psychometric properties of the SuMQ were evaluated in a general population sample. Item functioning and scale structure were examined using Rasch modeling, followed by dimensionality analyses. ROC analyses were conducted to explore preliminary severity thresholds.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Qualitative analyses identified 25 recurrent concepts related to maladaptive sugar-rich food consumption, which informed the initial version of the questionnaire. Rasch analysis supported a reduced 11-item version with strong internal consistency and a unidimensional structure. Exploratory threshold analyses identified score ranges associated with higher self-reported severity of SuM.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The SuMQ provides a behaviorally grounded, preliminary psychometrically validated instrument for assessing sugar-focused maladaptive eating patterns within a dimensional framework. It may support research exploring the boundaries between addictive-like eating and established eating disorder constructs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1855019","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T15:03:28Z","timestamp":1786115008000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Assessing maladaptive sugar-rich food consumption: development and preliminary validation of the sugar misuse questionnaire"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Pascal","family":"Perney","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Addictions Department, CHU Caremeau, University of Montpellier","place":["Montpellier, France"]},{"name":"INSERM U1018","place":["Paris, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rapha\u00ebl","family":"Trouillet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Paul Val\u00e9ry Montpellier 3, University Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556","place":["Montpellier, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophie","family":"Schuldiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VBIC, INSERM U1047, Universit\u00e9 de Montpellier, Service des Maladies M\u00e9taboliques et Endocriniennes, CHU N\u00eemes, Clinique du Pied Gard Occitanie","place":["Le Grau du Roi, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"H\u00e9l\u00e8ne","family":"Donnadieu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Addictions Department, H\u00f4pital La Colombiere, University Hospital of Montpellier, Inserm U1058","place":["Montpellier, France"]},{"name":"Montpellier Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier","place":["Montpellier, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philippe","family":"Lehert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Melbourne","place":["Parkville, VIC, Australia"]},{"name":"Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Louvain","place":["Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mickael","family":"Naassila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Groupe de Recherche sur l'Alcool & les Pharmacod\u00e9pendances GRAP, INSERM UMR 1247, Universit\u00e9 de Picardie Jules Verne","place":["Amiens, France"]},{"name":"Institut Universitaire de France","place":["Paris, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1016\/j.metabol.2018.09.005","article-title":"The epidemiology of obesity","volume":"92","author":"Chooi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Metabolism"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"972","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(24)01210-8","article-title":"Obesity in adults","volume":"404","author":"Lingvay","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1038\/s41574-021-00627-6","article-title":"The role of sugar-sweetened beverages in the global epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases","volume":"18","author":"Malik","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat Rev Endocrinol"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1208","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1360-0443.2010.03301.x","article-title":"Can food be addictive? 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