Response patterns on interview and questionnaire versions of the Eating Disorder Examination and their impact on latent structure analyses

ObjectiveThe purpose of this investigation was to compare the latent structures of the interview (EDE) and questionnaire (EDE-Q) versions of the Eating Disorder Examination.MethodsParticipants were 280 children, adolescents, and young adults seeking eating disorder treatment. Two separate latent structure analyses (LSAs) were conducted; one used variables from the EDE as indicators and the other used the corresponding variables from the EDE-Q as indicators.ResultsThe EDE and EDE-Q models both yielded four-class solutions. Three of the four classes from the EDE-Q model demonstrated moderate to high concordance with their paired class from the EDE model. Using the EDE-Q to detect the EDE, the sensitivity and specificity of measuring certain classes varied from poor (18.6%) to excellent (93.7%). The overall concordance was moderate (κ = .49).DiscussionThese data suggest that LSAs using the EDE and EDE-Q may be directly compared; however, differences between results may represent inconsistencies in response patterns rather than true differences in psychopathology.