Feedback neither increased attendance nor improved outcomes for outpatients in group psychotherapy for eating disorders. The results are discussed from different perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective: To validate a screening instrument (RiBED-8) aimed at identifying risk behaviour related to eating disorders among Danish adolescents in a two-stage study in 1996 and a follow-up study 2.75 years later. Methods: 2094 pupils, aged 14-21 years, responded to a 49-item self-report questionnaire. Risk behaviour related to eating disorders was defined. The psychometric validation procedure was performed with Rasch Item analysis, testing the internal and external homogeneity, local independence and unidimensionality. Furthermore, 91 semi-structured clinical interviews were conducted to create a gold standard and to test the content, criterion and construct related validity of risk behaviour. Eight items comprised the final scale, called RiBED-8. Furthermore, the criterion-related validity, the stability and the predictive validity of RiBED-8 was tested using the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI-2) in the follow-up study in 1998, where 508 pupils responded. In a cross-sectional design in 1998, the concurrent general psychopathology was analysed using Hopkins Symptoms CheckList (SCL-90-R). Lastly, the time-related reliability of the instrument was tested by test-retest analysis in 1998. Results: The scale was a uni-dimensional screening instrument with local independence, internal consistency and external homogeneity towards age groups. However, the instrument did not measure less severe risk behaviour for boys. RiBED-8 had sufficiently good psychometric properties (construct, criterion and predictive validity and test-retest reliability), and identified European Eating Disorders Review

Objective: To report on the first study in Denmark of the prevalence of dieting and other weight-loss behaviours among adolescents. Method: A cross-sectional study of 2094 pupils from grade 8-12, aged 14-21 years, throughout Denmark. The pupils responded to a self-administered 49-item questionnaire, which was constructed by an Expert Committee in the Danish National Board of Health. Results: The prevalence of dieting and other weight-loss behaviours were comparable to results from other countries, particularly from the Nordic countries. Dieting was dependent on BMI and sex and did not increase with age. However, the desire for weight loss increased with age for both sexes and body dissatisfaction became more extreme with age. Many boys desired a weight gain instead of a weight loss. Discussion: Dieting and other weight control behaviours increased with increasing BMI. However, most dieting and wish for weight loss was not justified by obesity but seemed to depend on a perception of being overweight. The need for identifying adolescents with at-risk behaviour related to eating disorders is emphasized.

Overall, this study established a link between ED severity, psychological distress and functional impairment indicating that both eating disorder severity and psychological distress are more strongly related to impaired role functioning for patients with more recent onset of an eating disorder. More research in the complex relationship between ED severity and functional impairment is needed.