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.