Abstract: "The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), based on the DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorder, is the most commonly used measure of food addiction world wide. The YFAS has been quantitatively validated in numerous populations and consistently demonstrates strong psychometric properties including convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity across studies. However, the YFAS has never been examined qualitatively to determine if the scale accurately captures the lived experience of food addiction. The goals of the current study were threefold: 1.) To determine if the subjective understanding of individual items on the YFAS are being interpreted in a manner consistent with the clinical conceptualization of substance use disorder, 2.) To identify important aspects of the lived experience of food addiction that are NOT being captured by the YFAS, and 3.) To determine if items on the YFAS do not accurately reflect or are irrelevant to the lived experience of food addiction. Seventeen individuals who self-identified as addicted to food and met criteria for food addiction on the YFAS completed in-depth, qualitative interviews concerning their lived experience of food addiction as well as their experience completing the YFAS. Thematic analysis was used to identify prominent themes across interviews."