Validation of the Korean version of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2: psychometric properties and cross-cultural comparison.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) in Korean patients with eating disorders and healthy controls, and to investigate cultural differences of EDI-2 between a Korean group and a North American standardization sample.


METHODS
The Korean version of the EDI-2 was prepared after comprehensive clinical assessment of Korean patients with eating disorders (n=327) as well as female undergraduates (n=176). Results were compared between eating disorder subgroups (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified) and those of a North American standardization sample and healthy controls.


RESULTS
The results showed that the Korean EDI-2 had adequate internal consistency (0.77-0.93) and discriminated well between patients with eating disorders and healthy controls on all subscales. Significant differences in EDI-2 subscale scores between the eating disorder groups and the healthy control group were observed; however, there was no discernible difference among the eating disorder subgroups. When compared with a North American standardization sample, the Korean control group showed significantly higher scores for drive for thinness and asceticism. When patient groups were compared, the Korean group showed significantly lower scores for perfectionism.


CONCLUSIONS
As expected, the results accurately reflected psychometric properties of the Korean version of EDI-2 for eating disorder patients in Korea. These findings also suggest that common characteristics for the eating disorder exist as a whole rather than with significant difference between each subgroup. In addition, significant differences between the Korean and the North American groups for both patients and controls also demonstrated specific cultural differences.
Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea.
Jung-Hyun
JH
Lee
Mi-Yeon
MY
Shin
Hye-Hyeon
HH
Jo
Young-Chul
YC
Jung
Joon-Ki
JK
Kim
Kyung Ran
KR
Kim
D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011594:Psychometrics; D055815:Young Adult