Spanish-language Eating Disorder Examination interview: factor structure in Latino/as

Latino/as face health care disparities in eating/weight disorders but are under-represented in treatment research and this is especially the case for Spanish-speaking-only persons. The development of psychometrically-sound assessment methods for Latino/as is needed to facilitate eating/weight research. The current study aimed to evaluate the factor structure of the Spanish-language version of the Eating Disorder Examination (S-EDE) interview, one of the primary assessment methods in studies of eating/weight despite limited data regarding psychometric aspects of this measure. Participants were 156 Spanish-speaking-only Latino/as (mean BMI 33.2; 84.6% classified as overweight) who were reliably administered the S-EDE interview by trained bi-lingual doctoral research-clinicians. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an inadequate fit for the original EDE structure but revealed a good fit for an alternative structure suggested by recent research. CFA supported an 8-item 3-factor structure; the three factors were interpreted as dietary restraint, shape/weight overvaluation, and body dissatisfaction. These factor analytic findings of the Spanish EDE interview are comparable to recent findings reported for English-speaking obese patient groups and have implications for clinical assessment and research with Latino/as.