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The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Italian version

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the validity and reliability of a new Italian language version of the latest edition of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0).

Methods

The sixth edition of the EDE-Q was translated into Italian and administered to 264 Italian-speaking inpatient and outpatient (257 females in their mid-20s) with eating disorder (75.4% anorexia nervosa) and 216 controls (205 females).

Results

Internal consistency was high for both the global EDE-Q and all subscale scores. Test–retest reliability was good to excellent (0.66–0.83) for global and subscale scores, and for items assessing key behavioral features of eating disorders (0.55–0.91). Patients with an eating disorder displayed significantly higher EDE-Q scores than controls, demonstrating the good criterion validity of the tool. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit for a modified seven-item three-factor structure.

Conclusions

The study showed the good psychometric properties of the new Italian version of the EDE-Q 6.0, and validated its use in Italian eating disorder patients, particularly in young females with anorexia nervosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Eating and Weight Disorders, Villa Garda Hospital, Via Montebaldo, 89, 37016, Garda, Verona, Italy

    Simona Calugi, Massimiliano Sartirana, Marwan El Ghoch, Federica Sartori, Eleonora Geccherle, Andrea Coppini, Cecilia Franchini & Riccardo Dalle Grave

  2. Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Chiara Milanese

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  1. Simona Calugi
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  2. Chiara Milanese
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Correspondence to Simona Calugi.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Calugi, S., Milanese, C., Sartirana, M. et al. The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Italian version. Eat Weight Disord 22, 509–514 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0276-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0276-6

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