Psychometric properties of the Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire

To examine the psychometric properties of the Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (PEDE-Q), developed to improve eating disorder (ED) assessment among youth by including parents as informants.

A multi-site, transdiagnostic sample of 355 adolescents with EDs completed the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and their parents completed the PEDE-Q.

The internal consistencies of the PEDE-Q subscales were on par with established EDE-Q ranges (.73 to .90), both when examined using the original four-factor EDE-Q subscales and the seven-item, three-factor subscales of the brief EDE-Q. Statistically significant medium- to large-sized correlations and poor to moderate levels of agreement were found between the corresponding EDE-Q and PEDE-Q subscales. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves showed that the PEDE-Q had a statistically significant area under the curve (AUC) to maximize sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing full-syndrome AN, whereas the EDE-Q did not. Based on chi-square analyses, the PEDE-Q identified a statistically significantly greater number of AN cases than the EDE-Q. The EDE-Q yielded a BN diagnosis more frequently than the PEDE-Q, although this difference was not statistically significant.

Results suggest that the PEDE-Q has good psychometric properties and provides incremental information that can aid in the assessment and diagnosis of adolescents with EDs, particularly those with AN.

There exist complex challenges to identifying clinically significant eating disorders among youth. The PEDE-Q is a questionnaire measure that improves eating disorder assessment among children and adolescents by asking parents to report on the symptoms and behaviors they have observed in their child and that youth may not fully disclose. The PEDE-Q can aid in the diagnosis of adolescents with eating disorders, particularly those with anorexia nervosa.