title: Examining the construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory.
abstract: The construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) was examined in 3 samples. An archival clinic sample (n = 318) of women completed the EDI, a structured interview, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that neither null nor 1-factor models of the EDI fit item-level or item-parcel data. The proposed 8-factor model did not fit at the item level but did fit item-parcel data. Reliability estimates of the 8 scales ranged from .82 to .93, and low-to-moderate interscale correlations among the eating and weight-related scales provided partial support for convergent validity. EDI personality scales showed moderate interscale correlations and were associated with MCMI-II scales. A final CFA of the EDI scales supported a 2-factor model (Eating and Weight, Personality) of the 8 EDI scales. Strong associations between depression and several EDI scale scores were found in a treatment study sample (n = 50). The archival clinic sample scored significantly higher on the 8 EDI scales than the nonpatient college comparison sample (n = 487).
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 226 Education Building, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820-6990, USA. espelage@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Dorothy L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Espelage
authors.forename: Suzanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mazzeo
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Aggen
authors.forename: Alexandra L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Quittner
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires