Psychometric properties of the eating disorder belief questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the psychometric properties of the eating disorder belief questionnaire (EDBQ).

METHOD: The EDBQ was administered to clinical patients with bulimia nervosa (n = 44) and nonclinical female university students (n = 298). Six types of psychometric testing were conducted: internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, ability to discriminate between clinical and nonclinical groups, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis.

RESULTS

Psychometric testing generally supported the utility of the EDBQ with good internal consistency, 4- to 6-week test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and ability to discriminate between groups. The a priori structure of the EDBQ was shown to provide a good fit to the observed data.

DISCUSSION: The results suggest that the EDBQ is a reliable and valid measure that may assist researchers and clinicians aiming to assess eating disorder cognitions in populations with bulimic symptoms.