Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Adolescent self-reports on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) are used widely to assess eating disorder symptoms. However, no published study has examined agreement between the youth and another source on these measures. This study assessed mother/daughter agreement on the EAT-26 and EDI. Subjects included 319 middle school girls and their mothers. The median correlation between mother and daughter report on the EAT and EDI scales was .22, with a range of .04 to .49. Mother/daughter agreement was highest on body dissatisfaction. Bulimia scales showed near-zero mother/daughter convergence. Maternal reports of their daughters `eating disorder symptoms were significantly lower than daughter self-report means on all but one subscale, the EAT-26 bulimia subscale. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that subscale structures did not generalize well to mother reports of their daughters' eating disorders.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Achenbach, T. M. , McConaughy, S. H. , & Howell, C. T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213-232.

Cole, S. H. , & Edelmann, R. J. (1987). Restraint, eating disorders, and the need to achieve in state and public school subjects. Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 475-482.

Garner, D. M. (1991). Eating Disorder Inventory-2 Professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Garner, D. M. , & Garfinkel, P. E. (1979). The Eating Attitudes Test: An index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 1-7.

Garner, D. M. , & Olmsted, M. P. (1984). The Eating Disorder Inventory manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Garner, D. M. , Olmsted, M. P. , Bohr, Y. , & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The eating attitudes test: Psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12, 871-878.

Garner, D. M. , Olmsted, M. P. , & Polivy, J. (1983). Development and validation of a multidimensional eating disorder inventory for anorexia nervosa and bulimia. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 15-34.

Gross, J. , Rosen, J. C. , Leitenberg, H. , & Willmuth, M. E. (1986). Validity of the Eating Attitudes Test and the Eating Disorders Inventory in bulimia nervosa. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 875-876.

Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four-factor index of social status. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

10.

Hsu, G. L. K. (1990). Eating disorders. New York: Guilford.

11.

Johnson, C. , & Connors, M. (1987). The etiology and treatment of bulimia nervosa. New York: Basic Books.

12.

Leichner, P. , Arnett, J. , Rallo, J. S. , Srikameswaran, S. , & Vulcano, B. (1986). An epidemiological study of maladaptive eating attitudes in a Canadian school age population. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 969-982.

13.

Maloney, M. J. , McGuire, J. B. , & Daniels, S. R. (1988). Reliability testing of a children's version of the Eating Attitudes Test. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 541-543.

14.

Wells, J. E. , Coope, P. A. , Gabb, D. C. , & Pears, R. K. (1985). The factor structure of the Eating Attitudes Test with adolescent schoolgirls. Psychological Medicine, 15, 141-146.

15.

Williams, R. L. , Schaefer, C. A. , Shisslak, C. M. , Gronwaldt, V. H. , & Comerci, G. D. (1986). Eating attitudes and behaviors in adolescent women: Discrimination of normals, dieters, and suspected bulimics using the Eating Attitudes Test and the Eating Disorder Inventory. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 879-894.

Mother/Daughter Agreement on the Eating Attitudes Test and the Eating Disorder Inventory

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References