Ana Laura Maglio

Psychometric properties of the Eating Disorders Inventory - 3 (EDI-3) among female adolescents from Argentina

The aim of this study is to explore the factor structure and internal consistency of the Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3) among female adolescents from Buenos Aires (Argentina). 725 high school students, aged 13 to 19 years, completed the EDI-3 and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Different factor solutions were evaluated. The most satisfactory solution was reached to explore, first, the items of the three Eating Disorder Risk Scales (good structure, variance explained = 46.7%) and on the other, items of the Psychological Scales (with partial divergence from theoretical structure, variance explained = 44.1%). The computation of Composites (combining different scales proposed by the author) fitted more closely to the original version. Internal consistency coefficients for most scales were adequate. In analyzing the discriminatory power of the items, it was found a “floor effect” on some scales, this being expected in general population. We conclude that the EDI-3 is a valid instrument for the assessment of risk for eating disorders in general population and, consequently, its early detection. We discuss the use of this instrument in general population.