Very little is known about factors that protect against development of an eating disorder development. In addition, it has been argued that instead of viewing eating disorders as the result of certain premorbid personality traits, we need to understand how intrapersonal and contextual factors work together and acknowledge that, for many young women in today’s society, disordered eating may be an adaptive response to the demands placed on contemporary women.
It has been suggested that the increasing interest in causal factors in the development of eating disorders has resulted in an overemphasis on risk factors, 11 because features such as perfectionism, need for control, and self-evaluation concerns have been relabeled as risk factors, and are no longer considered central symptoms of the eating disorder. 7 Body dissatisfaction 8 is a well established risk factor for eating disorders, and several of the other traits measured by EDI-C (ie, perfectionism, drive for thinness, poor interoceptive awareness, ineffectiveness, and interpersonal distrust) have been proposed as predisposing personality factors for the development of eating disorders, 9 although results are contradictory. In order to design targeted programs for high-risk individuals, it has been argued that it is important to identify specific risk and protective factors for the development of disturbed eating.
In an adolescent eating-disordered sample, all subscales, except maturity fears, were elevated compared with healthy controls. The EDI-C has shown psychometric properties that are comparable with those of the EDI-2. The same items are used, but the wording of some items has been changed and statements are framed to suit children and adolescents. The child version (EDI-C) 5 is based on the EDI-2. The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) 1, 2 and its revisions, EDI-2 3 and EDI-3, 4 measure characteristics that have been found to be elevated in eating disordered populations. Further validity and reliability studies will be needed to complete the global validation process for both the French and English versions.Eating disorders and subclinical problems related to eating, weight, and shape, are conditions that seriously affect psychologic health for a large number of adolescent girls and young women. The testing and factor analysis of the APE (English) Questionnaire demonstrated its internal consistency. high school students (N=1230) was administered the questionnaire.Ī principal components analysis (PCA) identified 5 components: "Eating Diet/Light Foods," "Unhealthy/Increased Eating," "Homemade Meals," "Skipping Meals" and "Healthy Eating". Common eating-related themes were identified and corresponding questionnaire items were constructed, then a group of U.S. adolescents, the details of which will be presented in a future article.Ī research team composed of French and American researchers observed eating behaviors in community samples from each country and reviewed previous studies comparing Europe and North America regarding eating attitudes/practices. The questionnaire is intended for use in a study comparing French and U.S. This paper describes the creation and demonstrates the internal consistency of the Attitudes and Patterns of Eating (APE) Questionnaire, English version, which assesses adolescent food beliefs and eating habits and can be used for comparative studies on various cultures and lifestyles.