[The anorexia nervosa inventory for self-rating (ANIS) (author's transl)]

Abstract

The Anorexia Nervosa Inventory for Self-Rating (ANIS) was developed as a reliable and valid instrument for diagnostic purposes and for longitudinal assessments in the course of therapy of anorexic patients. Appropriate items, which were selected from a larger pool of items by expert ratings, were subjected to factor analyses. The analyses were based on self-ratings of a sample of 101 patients suffering from anorexia nervosa and a sample of 118 high school students comparable in sex and age. The factor analytic studies based on maximum likelihood procedures resulted in a 31-item self-rating scale consisting of six interpretable factors. The rotated factor structure was stable for the different patient and student samples. The factors identified were labeled: (1) figure consciousness; (2) feeling of insufficiency; (3) anancasm; (4) adverse effect of meals; (5) sexual anxieties and (6) bulimia. The first two factors are discussed in the context of concepts formulated by Bruch (1973) concerning 'disturbances in body image' and an 'all-pervasive feeling of ineffectiveness' in anorexic patients. The usefulness of the ANIS scale to discriminate between healthy and anorexic subjects and for self-assessment of patients during the process of therapy is demonstrated.