The Bulimia Test was revised (BULIT-R) to accommodate the DSM-III-R criteria of bulimia nervosa. A 28-item, self-report, multiple-choice scale was developed by comparing responses of clinically identified female bulimics with those of female college students. Cross-validation was performed on independent samples of bulimic and college control subjects. The BULIT-R was a good predictor of group membership. The scale was then completed by female college students, and a stratified sample of these subjects was retested and interviewed approximately 2 months later. The results of retesting and diagnostic judgments based on interviews showed that the BULIT-R was a reliable and valid predictor of bulimia nervosa in a nonclinical population. The BULIT-R correlated highly with 2 other measures of bulimia, indicating a high degree of construct validity.

Clinical work and research on bulimia have been hampered by the lack of an appropriate scale with which to assess the symptoms. The Bulimia Test (BULIT), a 32-item, self-report, multiple-choice scale, was developed to meet this need. The BULIT was constructed by comparing responses of clinically identified female bulimic subjects with normal female college students on 75 preliminary test items, which were based on criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-HI; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) for bulimia. Cross-validation was performed on independent samples of bulimic and normal control subjects. The BULIT was a good predictor of group membership for both initial and replication samples. The scale was then administered to female college students, and a stratified sample of these subjects was retested and interviewed several weeks later. Results of retesting and judgments of diagnostic interviews showed that the BULIT was a reliable and valid predictor of bulimia in a nonclinical population. The BULIT correlated highly with another measure of bulimia, indicating a high degree of construct validity. A lower correlation with a measure of anorexia nervosa suggests that bulimia and anorexia nervosa represent overlapping, but not identical, syndromes.This article is based on a master's thesis submitted by Marcia C. Smith to the University of Missouri-Columbia. The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their constructive comments.Requests for reprints should be sent to

In patients with congestive heart failure, a restrictive transmitral flow pattern, female gender and advanced functional class are predictive of higher cardiac mortality. The restrictive transmitral flow pattern by Doppler echocardiography is the single best clinical predictor for cardiac death in patients with congestive heart failure.

Spontaneous and posed emotional facial expressions in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD, n – 12) were compared with those of healthy age-matched controls (n = 12). The intensity and amount of facial expression in PD patients were expected to be reduced for spontaneous but not posed expressions. Emotional stimuli were video clips selected from films, 2–5 min in duration, designed to elicit feelings of happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, or anger. Facial movements were coded using Ekman and Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System (FACS). In addition, participants rated their emotional experience on 9-point Likert scales. The PD group showed significantly less overall facial reactivity than did controls when viewing the films. The predicted Group X Condition (spontaneous vs. posed) interaction effect on smile intensity was found when PD participants with more severe disease were compared with those with milder disease and with controls. In contrast, ratings of emotional experience were similar for both groups. Depression was positively associated with emotion ratings, but not with measures of facial activity. Spontaneous facial expression appears to be selectively affected in PD, whereas posed expression and emotional experience remain relatively intact. (JINS, 1996, 2, 383–391.)