Development and validation of the eating disorder fear questionnaire and interview: Preliminary investigation of eating disorder fears.

Development and validation of the eating disorder fear questionnaire and interview: Preliminary investigation of eating disorder fears. Eat Behav. 2019 Aug 15;35:101320 Authors: Levinson CA, Vanzhula IA, Christian C Abstract Anxiety is highly characteristic of eating disorders (ED). Despite high levels of anxiety, little is known about ED specific fears. The current study developed and tested the psychometric properties of two measures of ED fears in two samples (N = 513 undergraduates; N = 129 clinical EDs): a self-report measure (Eating Disorder Fear Questionnaire; EFQ) and interview (Eating Disorder Fear Interview; EFI). We found strong support for a five-factor EFQ consisting of subscales assessing fear of weight gain, social consequences, personal consequences, physical sensations, and social eating. We found strong support for a six-factor EFI consisting of subscales assessing fear of food, weight gain, physical sensations, personal consequences, social consequences, and exercise-related fears. Both measures had adequate to strong internal consistency and convergent, divergent, incremental, and construct validity. These measures can be used to identify ED fears that can be targeted in personalized treatment. These data show that ED fears are multifaceted and heterogeneous. PMID: 31445189 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Eating Behaviors - Category: Eating Disorders & Weight Management Authors: Tags: Eat Behav Source Type: research