Validation of the exercise and eating disorders questionnaire

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Compulsive exercise is a well-known feature in eating disorders. The Exercise and Eating Disorder (EED) self-report questionnaire was developed to assess aspects of compulsive exercise not adequately captured by existing instruments. This study aimed to test psychometric properties and the factor structure of the EED among women with eating disorders and a control group. METHOD: The study included 449 female participants, including 244 eating disorders patients and 205 healthy controls. The patient group consisted of 32.4% (n = 79) AN patients, 23.4% (n = 57) BN, 34.4% (n = 84) EDNOS and 9.8% (n = 24) with BED diagnosis. RESULTS: The analyses confirmed adequate psychometric properties of the EED, with a four-factor solution: (1) compulsive exercise, (2) positive and healthy exercise, (3) awareness of bodily signals, and (4) weight and shape exercise. The EED discriminated significantly (p < .001) between patients and controls on the global score, subscales, and individual items. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory (r = 0.86). Convergent validity was demonstrated by high correlations between the EED and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q; r = 0.79). DISCUSSION: The EED is the first clinically derived, self-report questionnaire to assess compulsive exercise among ED patients. The EED offers assessment that has broader clinical utility than existing instruments because it identifies treatment targets and treatment priorities.