The Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI)

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). The sample consisted of 18 classes (403 high school girls) which were selected through a cluster random sampling procedure, and responded to self-reported questionnaires, the EDI and the Eating Disorder Belief Questionnare (EDBQ). The validity of the Inventory was investigated by contemporary and consistency validity and factor analysis. Factor analysis of the inventory using Varimax rotation based on Scree test, revealed 7 factors, which covered 42.65 percent of the total variance. In subscale-total correlations, correlation coefficients of the seven factors with the total score were between 0.34 to 0.66 (all p<0/01). Contemporary validity between the EDI and the EDBQ was.48, p<0/01. The reliability coefficient was acceptable, 0.76 and 0.56, using Cronbach’s alpha reliability test and spilt- half methods, respectively. In general, findings of the research, confirm appropriate validity and reliability of the Persian version of the EDI and showed that it is appropriate to apply this inventory in Iranian samples for evaluation of eating disorder symptoms.