The specificity of the eating disorders inventory: A reappraisal

The issue of the specificity of the scales of the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDl) was reexamined by comparing the scores of a group of non–eating-disordered psychiatric patients with groups of subjects with anorexia nervosa and bulimia. After correction for the effects of age, expected differences were observed on most of the scales whose content directly concerned attitudes and behaviors about weight and eating but on none of those concerned with other matters. Thus, the study failed to find evidence that Ineffectiveness, Perfectionism, Interpersonal Distrust, and Maturity Fears, as measured by the EDl, have any specific association with eating disorders when compared with other psychiatric conditions of comparable severity.