Investigation of a Multidimensional Scale for Assessing the Tendency for Eating Disorders in Middle and Late Adolescents

Abstract

  In this study, a multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders was developed and examined for reliability and validity, with the aim of suggesting early preventative measures for persons at risk of developing such disorders. Survey subjects were 798 male and female high school and college students (aged 16.5 ± 1.6 years). Of the subjects, 119 were subject to a second survey using the developed scale after an interval of 4 weeks. The survey consisted of questions for each level of the newly developed multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders, using EAT-26＋EDI and Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale. Based on the results of factor analysis, a multidimensional scale for assessing the tendency for eating disorders consisting of 25 items related to 4 factors was developed. The Cronbach's alpha were α＝.891～.721 for the subscales named “Adherence to body shape and dieting”, “Body dissatisfaction”, “Restriction of high energy diet” and “Consideration for others”, respectively. Stability scores in the re-survey were r＝.818 for the 25 items combined and r＝.853～.620 (p＜.001) for the subscales, respectively. The construct validity based on the correlation with the two relevant scales was r＝.544 (p＜.001) for EAT-26＋EDI and r＝－.531 (p＜.001) for Self Esteem Scale. This scale was confirmed to be highly reliable in terms of both internal consistency and stability as well as construct validity.