Dimensionality of three versions of the Eating Disorder Inventory in adolescent girls

To analyze the dimensionality of three versions of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) in adolescent girls.

The sample comprised 738 participants. The Spanish adaptation of the EDI-2 was used. The EDI-2 contains the 64 items of EDI and has the same items as EDI-3. The dimensional structures hypothesized by Garner for the three EDI versions were assessed via a series of Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs).

The CFA did not confirm Garner's proposed structure in any of the three versions. Consequently it was decided to perform Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) of the EDI-2 and the EDI-3 to try to identify the underlying structure. The best theoretical and empirical fit was provided by a 7-factor structure.

This article presents a shortened version of the EDI-2 which may prove more suitable for use with adolescent girls in the general population than the original questionnaire. Certain practical suggestions for optimizing the use of the different versions of the EDI are also presented.