Eating disturbances in a school population of preteen girls: Assessment and screening

✍ Scribed by Colton, Patricia A. ;Olmsted, Marion P. ;Rodin, Gary M.

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 104 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/eat.20386

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the utility of the Children's Eating Attitudes Test (cEAT) questionnaire in screening for interview‐ascertained eating disturbances.

Method:

A total of 409 girls, 9–13 years of age, completed a cEDE interview and cEAT questionnaire.

Results:

14.7% of girls reported eating disturbances in the past month on the cEDE. Mean cEDE score was 0.3 ± 0.6 and mean cEAT score was 5.9 ± 5.9. The cEAT demonstrated low sensitivity but high specificity at a cutoff score of 20, and poor positive predictive value when lower cutoff scores were used.

Conclusion:

Eating disturbances were common but mild in this preteen group. The cEAT was not an efficient screening tool for interview‐ascertained mild eating disturbances in preteen girls. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007