Psychometric properties of eating disorder instruments in Black and White young women: internal consistency, temporal stability, and validity

Abstract

Most of the major instruments in the eating disorder field have documented psychometric support only in predominantly White samples. The current study examined the internal consistency, temporal stability, and convergent and discriminant validity of a variety of eating disorder measures in Black (n = 97) and White (n = 179) female undergraduates. Internal consistency coefficients were good (>.76) for all measures for both groups. Temporal stability across 5 months was also adequate in both groups, but with evidence for dietary restraint and subjective binge eating being less stable in Black women (e.g., for the Restraint subscale of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire [TFEQ], r = .63 for Black women and r = .82 for White women). Scores on the bulimic symptoms and dietary restraint instruments converged and diverged in a theoretically consistent pattern. Findings suggest these eating disorder measures are reliable (internally consistent; temporally stable over 5 months) and that the bulimic symptom measures of the Bulimia Test-Revised, the Bulimia subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory, and the dietary restraint measures from the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire and TFEQ demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity in Black college women.