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A new instrument measuring disturbed eating patterns in community populations: development and initial validation of a five‐item scale (EDS‐5)
Author(s) -
Rosenvinge Jan H.,
Perry Judith A.,
Bjørgum Lars,
Bergersen Trine D.,
Silvera David H.,
Holte Arne
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.371
Subject(s) - eating disorders , cronbach's alpha , eating disorder inventory , psychology , scale (ratio) , clinical psychology , construct validity , disordered eating , psychometrics , test validity , concurrent validity , psychiatry , bulimia nervosa , internal consistency , cartography , geography
This paper reports on the development and validation of a brief scale, the Eating Disturbance Scale (EDS‐5), as a screening instrument for problematic eating disorders in normal populations. A nationwide sample of 6313 subjects completed 22 questions about eating patterns. Using principal component analysis, these questions were cut down to five items, forming a scale. From another epidemiological study ( N = 835), 51 female subjects responded to these five questions in addition to a clinical interview. The scale yielded a Cronbach alpha of 0.83 and 0.86, respectively, Also, a sensitivity and specificity of 0.90 and 0.88 was found with respect to DSM‐IV eating disorders. The concurrent and construct validity show significant correlations with Eating Disorder Inventory subscales measuring disturbed eating ( M = 0.55, range 0.44–0.73), and even higher correlations with similar factors from the self‐report version of the Eating Disorder Examination ( M = 0.73, range 0.60–0.89). The results suggest that the EDS‐5 is sensitive to disordered eating patterns and that this instrument appears promising for screening purposes in community samples. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.