The Eating Disorders Inventory is a self-report test used by physicians to screen for eating disorders. It contains 64 questions focusing on eight categories, including behavior and attitudes towards weight, diet, and body shape. The EDI 2 and EDI 3 have been developed with additional categories and questions. The test is generally accurate and can be displayed in graphs for easy interpretation.
The Eating Disorders Inventory is a self-report test performed by physicians that helps determine if a patient has an eating disorder. The original version contains 64 questions that focus on eight different categories. It is not intended to diagnose any condition, but is used as a screening device. Since its development by David M. Garner in 1984, it has also been used to help clinicians understand the psychology behind disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Of the eight categories of questions, three address behavior and attitudes regarding weight, diet, and body shape. These include body dissatisfaction, bulimia, and the desire to lose weight. Once a patient answers these questions, the Eating Disorders Inventory can shed some light on her thinking about her body.
The other five scales investigate the psychological factors of people with eating disorder symptoms. These include perfectionism, interpersonal mistrust, ineffectiveness, fears of maturity, and awareness of internal stimuli. The answers to such questions can sometimes correctly predict whether a patient currently has or will develop eating disorder symptoms.
The second version of the Eating Disorders Inventory, or EDI 2, was created in 1991. It includes 91 questions in total and three new categories. They are impulse control, social insecurity and asceticism.
A third version, or EDI 3, has since been developed. The number of questions is the same as EDI 2, but there are 12 scales, nine of which ask general psychological questions. There are also six composite scores that will be included in this version. They include eating disorder risk, risk ineffectiveness, affective problems, excessive control, interpersonal problems, and general psychological maladjustment.
Questions asked within each category include the frequency of symptoms such as excessive exercise, binge eating, purging, use of diet pills, and ingestion of laxatives. The Eating Disorders Inventory also takes into account a patient’s body mass index to determine if she might be a candidate for eating disorder treatment. The test is in the form of a simple checklist, which helps both those who complete it and the clinicians who interpret the results. In this way, the responses can be easily displayed in graphs.
Although the Eating Disorders Inventory may not always be accurate in identifying patients with problems such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, several studies have shown that this test is typically accurate. The results are generally correlated with other measures, such as the Food Aptitude Test and the Restriction Scale. Although most of the studies using this test revolve around women, it is also said to be accurate for men.
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