Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire | EDE-Q
Recommended frequency: Every 4 weeks
Summary
The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is a 28-item self-reported questionnaire adapted from the semi-structured interview Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) and designed to assess the range and severity of features associated with a diagnosis of eating disorder using 4 subscales (Restraint, Eating Concern, Shape Concern and Weight Concern) and a global score.
The EDE-Q can be used with anyone over the age of 14. If required for younger individuals, the adolescent version EDE-A (see Other Versions below) can be used but the developers advise against using this measure with young people below the age of 12. There is a need for further research examining the psychometric properties of the EDE-Q in ethnically diverse groups. Research has identified some racial/ethnic variations in survey completion and discrepant responses (Kelly, Cotter, Lydecker & Mazzeo, 2017) as well as a lack of measurement invariance between some ethnic groups (Serier, Smith & Yeater, 2018).
Psychometric Properties
| Property | Definition | EDE-Q |
| Internal consistency | Whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce a similar score. | The EDE-Q has demonstrated reliability across multiple studies (see Berg, Peterson, Frazier, & Crow, 2011) and the EDE-Q subscales demonstrate acceptable internal consistency (Luce, & Crowther, 1999; Mond, Hay, Rodgers, Owen, & Beumont, 2004; Bardone-Cone & Agras, 2017). |
| Test-retest reliability | Degree to which the same respondents have the same score after a period when a trait should not have changed. | Test-retest reliability is generally reported as good for the EDE-Q subscales with female undergraduate students (Luce, & Crowther, 1999) and adults (Reas, Grilo, & Masheb, 2006). |
| Convergent validity | Degree to which two measures of constructs that theoretically should be related, are related. | Studies of convergent validity comparing the EDE-Q with its interview equivalent (the EDE) have generally demonstrated good agreement between the measures (Black & Wilson, 1996; Wilfley, Schwartz, Spurrel, & Fairburn, 1997; Bardone-Cone & Agras, 2017). |
| Construct validity | The degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring. | The overall measure seems to be useful but there is disagreement regarding the factor structure of this measure, particularly around subscales and scoring. Carey et al. (2019) suggested that the EDE-Q factor structure may require further reassessment, with a greater focus on the qualitative differences in interpretation of EDE-Q items between females and males. |
| Discriminative validity | Whether the measure scores can distinguish between individuals with particular characteristics (e.g. diagnosis) | The EDE-Q global score was found to be highly accurate in discriminating individuals with an eating disorder from those without and moderately accurate in discriminating individuals with binge eating disorder from those with obesity (Aardoom, Dingemans, Slof Op’t Landt, & Furth, 2012). Two other studies have also suggested that the EDE-Q could accurately discriminate between individuals with an eating disorder and those without (Mond et al., 2004; Mond et al., 2008). |
The Scale
Scoring
The EDE-Q generates two types of data: frequency data on key behavioural features of eating disorders in terms of the number of episodes of the behaviour, and subscale scores reflecting the severity of characteristics of eating disorders. The subscales are Restraint, Eating Concern, Shape Concern and Weight Concern.
Copyright Information
Fairburn, C., Cooper, Z., & O’Connor, M. (2014). Eating Disorder Examination (Edition 17.0D; April 2014)
Fairburn, C, Cooper, Z. & O’Connor, M. ‘Eating Disorder Examination’ in Fairburn, C.G. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Eating Disorders. Guildford Press, New York, 2008.
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