Validation of the revised eating disorder core beliefs questionnaire (ED-CBQ-R) in an Australian sample

ABSTRACT

Objective

The revised Eating Disorder Core Beliefs Questionnaire (ED-CBQ-R) is a 15-item self-report questionnaire which assesses the endorsement of underlying core beliefs relevant to eating disorders. As this measure has not yet been validated in a secondary sample since its development, the current study aimed to evaluate the factor structure, validity, reliability and discriminative ability of the ED-CBQ-R in a sample of Australian men and women.

Method

Undergraduate students (N = 283) completed an online test battery of questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analyses and linear regression analyses were performed, and group differences, internal consistency, and construct validity of the ED-CBQ-R examined.

Results

Results of the CFA suggested acceptable to good model fit to the observed data in the current non-clinical sample. The total measure and its four subscales displayed acceptable to good internal consistency and good convergent and divergent validity. Females (n = 148) had significantly higher negative core beliefs across all subscales compared to males (n = 134). A subgroup of participants with self-reported eating disorder symptomatology (n = 62) had higher scores on the total ED-CBQ-R, Self-loathing, Demanding, Unassertive and Abandoned subscales, compared to the subgroup of participants without self-reported eating disorder symptoms (n = 221).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest the ED-CBQ-R has strong psychometric properties and the potential to be a theoretically and clinically useful assessment tool in Australian samples. However, the ED-CBQ-R requires further investigation in clinical eating disorder samples before recommendations for its clinical utility can be fully supported.

KEY POINTS

What is already known about this topic:

(1) Negative core beliefs have been implicated in both the development and maintenance of eating disorders.

(2) The revised Eating Disorder Core Beliefs Questionnaire (ED-CBQ-R) assesses the endorsement of four dimensions of underlying core beliefs relevant to eating disorders.

(3) Development of the measure resulted in preliminary evidence for its validity and reliability.

What this topic adds:

(1) The current study validated the four-factor structure of the ED-CBQ-R in a separate sample of Australian men and women, and good internal consistency and construct validity were demonstrated.

(2) Scores on all four subscales were higher in those self-reporting clinical and subclinical disordered eating symptomatology.

(3) Negative eating disorder core beliefs were more severe in women compared to men.

KEYWORDS:

• Core beliefs
• eating disorders
• psychometric
• questionnaire
• reliability
• validity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/13284207.2022.2144717

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.