[Reliability and validity of the Icelandic version of the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R)]

The psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R) were investigated. The BULIT-R is a self-report instrument designed to assess a broad range of eating-disordered behaviour, particularly bulimic symptomatology.

The BULIT-R was administered to 66 female patients receiving outpatient psychiatric treatment. Almost half of the patients (n=32) sought treatment for disturbed eating behaviours and 34 women were in treatment for depression or anxiety. In addition, three other self-report measures were administered to the women, the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), in order to assess convergent and divergent validity.

The study estimated the reliability and construct validity of the BULIT-R. The internal reliability was high (Cronbach's coefficient alpha = 0,96). The BULIT-R correlated highly with EDDS, a brief self-report measure for diagnosing anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, and it correlated lower with BDI-II and OCI-R. The BULIT-R differentiated between patients with and without eating-disordered symptomatology.

These results indicate that the Icelandic version of the BULIT-R is a reliable and valid measure to assess eating disordered behaviour, particularly bulimic behaviour among female outpatients.