The SCOFF-c: psychometric properties of the Catalan version in a Spanish adolescent sample

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to validate the Catalan version of the SCOFF questionnaire with a community sample of adolescents.

Method: This study used a community sample of 954 participants (475 girls and 479 boys; aged between 10.9 and 17.3 years and from the city of Barcelona) and a risk group of 78 participants (35 men and 43 women; derived from the community sample) that have exceeded > or =95 percentile in at least two of the three scales of the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2): Drive for Thinness, Bulimia, and Body Dissatisfaction.

Results: There were significant differences in total SCOFF scores across gender and school grades. The SCOFF best cutoff point was 2 (sensitivity=73.08%; specificity=77.74%). Concurrent validity with the EDI-2 varied between low and moderate. The reliability of the SCOFF questionnaire was moderate. Exploratory factor analysis of the SCOFF questionnaire showed a two-factor structure for the total sample and for girls, and one factor for boys.

Conclusion: The best cutoff point for this community sample is 2. The data suggest that the SCOFF questionnaire could be a useful screening questionnaire to enable the detection of groups possibly at risk for eating disorders among adolescent Spanish community samples.