The Yale-Brown-Cornell eating disorders scale self-report questionnaire: a new, efficient tool for clinicians and researchers.

Overview

OBJECTIVE: The YBC-EDS is a semistructured interview assessing core preoccupations and rituals related to eating disorders. METHOD: We developed and conducted an examination of the reliability and validity of a self-report questionnaire (SRQ) version of the YBC-EDS. Convergent validity of YBC-EDS-SRQ with the YBC-EDS was examined for 112 eating disordered patients. RESULTS: All subscales and total scores were significantly intercorrelated. Thirty-one additional patients completed YBC-EDS-SRQ at admission and again 1 week later. All correlations revealed significant test-retest reliability. Discriminant validity of the SRQ was evaluated for a smaller subset of participants who completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). There were no significant correlations between various symptom dimensions of the YBC-EDS-SRQ and the BDI and STAI. DISCUSSION: Taken together, these findings indicate that the self-report form of the YBC-EDS is both valid and reliable. The SRQ can serve as a useful and efficient assessment of eating disorder patients for clinicians and researchers.