The Yale-Brown-Cornell Eating Disorder Scale: development, use, reliability and validity

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Traditional eating disorder assessments are limited to specific thoughts and actions.
• Patients exhibit a wide spectrum of eating-related preoccupations and rituals.
• A need exists for a comprehensive assessment tool for diverse eating disorder symptomatology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Yale-Brown-Cornell Eating Disorder Scale (YBC-EDS), a novel clinician-rated instrument.
• To evaluate the reliability and validity of the YBC-EDS in assessing eating disorder illness severity.
• To present provisional items for assessing motivation for change in patients with eating disorders.

Main Methods:

• The YBC-EDS, an eight-item scale, was developed to assess the severity of unique eating disorder symptoms.
• A set of six provisional items was created to evaluate motivation for change.
• The instrument's reliability and validity were tested in two independent samples of patients diagnosed with DSM-III-R eating disorders.

Main Results:

• The YBC-EDS eight-item scale and the six provisional items were frequently endorsed.
• Excellent interrater reliability was demonstrated for both scales.
• Good internal consistency and convergent validity were shown for the YBC-EDS core items.
• The provisional items showed an inverse relationship with measures of diet restriction, drive for thinness, and body dissatisfaction.

Conclusions:

• The eight-item Yale-Brown-Cornell Eating Disorder Scale is effective for assessing illness severity across a broad range of eating disorder symptoms.
• The accompanying six provisional items show promise for evaluating motivation for change.
• Initial findings support the excellent reliability and indications of validity for both the YBC-EDS and the provisional items.