The branched eating disorders test: validity in a nonclinical population.
OBJECTIVE
To develop an effective measure of the symptoms of eating disorders for use in community surveys.


METHODS
A branched eating disorders instrument for administration by notebook computer was evaluated as a screen in 487 teenage schoolgirls. High scorers and a stratified sample of low scorers were evaluated in a second-stage interview with the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE).


RESULTS
The Branched Eating Disorders Test (BET) proved to have exceptional validity coefficients (sensitivity 100%, specificity 99%, positive predictive value 70%).


CONCLUSIONS
This pilot validation suggests that the BET largely overcomes the problems of earlier instruments of limited screening utility when applied to community samples.
Selzer
R
R
Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Hamill
C
C
Bowes
G
G
Patton
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002032:Bulimia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008403:Mass Screening; D008838:Microcomputers; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology