Screening Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in children: Outcomes from utilitarian versus specialist psychometrics

Abstract

This study assessed the specificity and sensitivity of two commonly used psychometric methods to assess ARFID in children. To achieve this, a sample of 329 mothers and one father completed the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) and the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS). A Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated that both measures were able to successfully differentiate a known clinical sample from those of typically developing population. Although the BPFAS was more accurate at differentiating ARFID from the general population, the CFNS was acceptable and on some metrics better than its longer counterpart. The ability of a food neophobia scale to differentiate clinical and population samples, and detect gradation of food avoidance within the population sample, suggests that the multitude of psychometric measures available may be measuring similar constructs. Therefore, confidence can be expected in cross-site comparisons despite each using different psychometric measures of food avoidance in children.

Detecting Eating Psychopathology in Female Athletes by Asking About Exercise: Use of the Compulsive Exercise Test

“…Steinsbekk, Sveen, Fildes, Llewellyn, & Wichstrom, ; Warner, ). As shown in Table , lower scores on the CET‐A were associated with higher sensitivity, but the specificity of the measure was poor and below the 70% critical score (Dovey et al, ; Mond et al, ). Thus, a trade‐off between sensitivity and specificity was deemed to be most appropriate, and a global CET‐A score of 10 represented suitable levels of both sensitivity (0.92) and specificity (0.73).…”

“…Sensitivity and specificity values were evaluated to support the identification of a suitable CET‐A score that could facilitate the identification of athletes with elevated levels of eating psychopathology. Critical scores of above 70% for sensitivity and specificity are deemed acceptable, although scores above 80% are optimal (Dovey, Aldridge, Martin, Wilken, & Meyer, ; Mond et al, ). In addition, an area under the curve analysis and positive predictive value analysis were included.…”

Treatment of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder in a cohort of young patients in a partial hospitalization program for eating disorders

“…While measures that have recently been used to screen for ARFID (Dovey, Aldridge, Martin, Wilken, & Meyer, 2016) were available at the time of our study, such as the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (Crist & Napier-Phillips, 2001) and the Child Food Neophobia Scale (Pliner, 1994), these measures were designed for younger children and appeared less germane to our relatively older patient population. While measures that have recently been used to screen for ARFID (Dovey, Aldridge, Martin, Wilken, & Meyer, 2016) were available at the time of our study, such as the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (Crist & Napier-Phillips, 2001) and the Child Food Neophobia Scale (Pliner, 1994), these measures were designed for younger children and appeared less germane to our relatively older patient population.…”

“…At the time of treatment in our study, there were no formalized assessment tools for ARFID, and this is a clear limitation. While measures that have recently been used to screen for ARFID (Dovey, Aldridge, Martin, Wilken, & Meyer, 2016) were available at the time of our study, such as the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (Crist & Napier-Phillips, 2001) and the Child Food Neophobia Scale (Pliner, 1994), these measures were designed for younger children and appeared less germane to our relatively older patient population. The development of reliable and valid assessment measures for older children with ARFID who present with symptoms other than selective eating is clearly warranted.…”

Eating behaviour, behavioural problems and sensory profiles of children with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), autistic spectrum disorders or picky eating: Same or different?

“…Questions were answered on a 5-point Likert scale (anchored with 1 never-to-5 always). The BPFAS has been implemented for a heterogeneous sample attending feeding clinic [31], shown to discriminate between children with ARFID [32, 33] and ASD [34] from the general population, and is sensitive to successful psychological interventions [35].…”