The eating disorder examination questionnaire: reliability and validity of the Italian version

PURPOSE: To examine the validity and reliability of a new Italian language version of the latest edition of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0). METHODS: The sixth edition of the EDE-Q was translated into Italian and administered to 264 Italian-speaking inpatient and outpatient (257 females in their mid-20s) with eating disorder (75.4% anorexia nervosa) and 216 controls (205 females). RESULTS: Internal consistency was high for both the global EDE-Q and all subscale scores. Test-retest reliability was good to excellent (0.66-0.83) for global and subscale scores, and for items assessing key behavioral features of eating disorders (0.55-0.91). Patients with an eating disorder displayed significantly higher EDE-Q scores than controls, demonstrating the good criterion validity of the tool. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit for a modified seven-item three-factor structure. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed the good psychometric properties of the new Italian version of the EDE-Q 6.0, and validated its use in Italian eating disorder patients, particularly in young females with anorexia nervosa.