ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to review methods for assessing the behavioral and psychological characteristics of individuals with problems that are suggestive of eating disorders. Some of the most widely used instruments for assessing these disorders will be considered, including self-report inventories and structured interview methods. Psychometric data, including reliability and validity, will be discussed for each method. Reliability refers to the degree to which a test can be repeated with the same results in the same type of participants. In other words, reliability involves the consistency shown by a test with specic samples of participants. When tests demonstrate high reliability in a sample, it means the scores of participants in the sample are less susceptible to insignicant or random changes in the test taker or the testing environment. Reliability coefcients above .80 typically are considered satisfactory, and coefcients below .70 often are viewed as unacceptable. Validity refers to the degree to which a questionnaire measures what it is intended to measure in a given sample of participants. For example, does a measure of body dissatisfaction really assess a person’s negative feelings toward her body, or does it capture some other phenomenon, such as depression or anxiety? The validity of an assessment procedure in a given sample will affect the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of the test data. The greater the reliability and validity, the more condent one can be in the accuracy of the data gathered from a sample of participants.
