Eating Disorder Examination–Questionnaire (EDE–Q): Norms for Clinical Sample of Female Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa

Abstract

The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q; Fairburn & Cooper, 1993; Fairburn, Cooper, & O’Connor, 2008) is a well-established self-report instrument that measures eating disorder behaviors and attitudes, and is derived from the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) interview (Fairburn & Cooper, 1993; Fairburn et al., 2008). The EDE-Q is relatively brief and cost-efficient, and is used for research and clinical purposes. Normative data are needed for appropriate analysis and interpretation of EDE-Q scores. Additionally, normative data provides a baseline distribution in a representative sample of individuals with eating disorders and establishes a baseline for comparison to healthy controls and individuals who have recovered from an eating disorder. Currently, normative data exists in a myriad of adult populations such as undergraduate students (Darcy, Hardy, Lock, Hill, & Peebles, 2013; Keane, Clarke, McGrath, Farrelly, & MacHale, 2017; Kelly, Cotter, & Mazzeo, 2012; Lavender, De Young, & Anderson, 2010; Luce & Crowther, 1999; Luce, Crowther, & Pole, 2008; Nakai et al., 2014; Quick & Byrd-Bredbenner, 2013; Reas, Overas, & Ro, 2012; Ro, Reas, & Lask, 2010; Villarroel, Penelo, Portell, & Raich, 2011), community samples (Hilbert, de Zwaan, & Braehler, 2012; Machado et al., 2014; Mond, Hay, Rodgers, & Owen, 2006; Mond, Hay, Rodgers, Owen, & Beumont, 2004), eating disorder (ED) samples (Brewin, Baggott, Dugard, & Arcelus, 2014; Dahlgren, Stedal, & Ro, 2017; Jennings & Phillips, 2017; Smith et al., 2017), and both ED and community samples (Aardoom, Dingemans, Slof Op’t Landt, & Van Furth, 2012; Welch, Birgegard, Parling, & Ghaderi, 2011). Few studies have examined normative data in adolescent populations. Normative EDE-Q data are available for healthy adolescent girls in the United Kingdom (Carter, Stewart, & Fairburn, 2001) and Portugal (Machado et al., 2014), and healthy adolescent boys and girls in Australia (Mond et al., 2014), Malaysia (Musa et al., 2016), and Mexico (Penelo, Negrete, Portell, & Raich, 2013). One Swedish study (Mantilla & Birgegard, 2016) reported norms on clinical and healthy adolescents using a 14-day time frame version of the EDE-Q, which had been specifically modified for adolescents (Carter et al., 2001). To the knowledge of these researchers, despite increased research and clinical use of the EDE-Q in adolescent populations, normative data in a clinical sample in the United States (U.S.) has not been published. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to provide EDE-Q norms for a sample of adolescent females diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN) admitted to inpatient treatment for an eating disorder.