Validation of the eating disorders inventory in a nonclinical population using transformed and untransformed responses

Abstract

In the present study, the validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory (€01) in a Dutch nonclinical female school population was established. The data were analyzed in two Ways. In the first analyses, the factorial integrity of the questionnaire, and the internal consistencies of the subscales were not found to be very satisfactory. The data showed an impressive lack of variability. It was suggested by the authors that in a nonclinical Population the variability ofthe ED1 data is being suppressed as a result of the fact that, In concordance with the manual, the original 6-point ED1 items were transformed into 4-Point items. In the second analyses, this item transformation was ejected. The psychometric properties of a// ED/ subscales in the present study improved. Implications for the use of the untransformed EDI as a screening instrument were discussed. 0 1994The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI; Garner, Olmsted, & PoEvy, 1983) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure psychological and behavioral traits commonly found u\ eating disorders. Although it was not designed for that purpose, it has been suggested as a screening instrument for eating disorders (Raciti & Norcross, 1987). There are two good reasons for this choice: Most of these psychological characteristics and behav-lorS measured by the ED1 are thought to proceed the onset of the illness, and secondly, the ED1 is the only instrument that provides assessment of a broad range of these variables. However, before a clinically derived measure can be used for early recognition of eating disorders in a nonclinical population, its validity in nonclinical populations must be well established (Hemchuk, Hutchinson, & Frank, 1990). For the EDI, especially CasWr Schoemaker is Research Assistant at the Department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Niimegen, where Tatjana van Strien, Ph.D., is staff member, and Cees van der Staak, Ph.D., is Professor. Correspondence should be addressed to the first author at Vakgroep Kfinische Psychologie en Persoonlijkheiddeer, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, Postbus 9704, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Eating attitudes and weight concern among Chinese middle-age women: A comparison between different age and BMI groups

“…41 Patients with obesity presented strong negative feeling about their bodies. 42 The present survey showed that age did not demonstrate any impact an the scores on the questionnaire EDI, except that the younger group (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39) showed significantly higher scores than the middle aged group (40-49) on subscale bulimia on the questionnaire EDI-2. Mclean, Paxton and Wertheim found that in the EDE-Q subscales: the Body Dissatisfaction and disordered eating symptoms were unrelated to age 13 .…”

“…But several authors have argued that the original scoring is in fact better [31][32][33] . Shoemaker et al discovered that compared to the transformed scales 0-3, the original 1-6 scoring showed a higher internal consistency 32 (cited by 34 ).…”

“…The two age groups (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49), scored lowest on Body Dissatisfaction near the point (BMI = 19). However, from this point, their scores on Body Dissatisfaction began to rise since they wanted to reduce their weight.…”

“…Age group: The younger group (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39) will show significantly higher scores than the middle aged group (40-49) and older aged group (50-59) on the subscales Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness on the questionnaire EDI-2.…”

Assessment of Body Image in Younger and Older Women

“…Because this was a nonclinical population, responses were scored using the untransformed scale (Schoemaker, van Strien, & van der Staak, 1994).…”