Measures
The Eating Disorder Examination (EDE)
The Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) is widely viewed as the "gold standard" measure of eating disorder psychopathology. It provides a measure of the range and severity of eating disorder features. It can also generate operational eating disorder diagnoses. It is used in most treatment studies and in many other investigations of eating disorder psychopathology. Normative values are available.
The current version of the EDE is edition 17.0D. The main difference from the earlier edition (16.0D) is that it is designed to generate DSM-5 eating disorder diagnoses (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The EDE has been translated into multiple languages.
Further reading
Cooper Z & Fairburn CG. The Eating Disorder Examination: a semi-structured interview for the assessment of the specific psychopathology of eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders 1987; 6: 1-8.
Fairburn CG & Cooper Z. The Eating Disorder Examination (twelfth edition). In: CG Fairburn & GT Wilson (eds.). Binge Eating: Nature, Assessment and Treatment. (pp. 317-360). New York: Guilford Press, 1993.
Fairburn CG, Cooper Z, O'Connor M. Eating Disorder Examination (16.0D). In Fairburn CG. Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.
The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q)
The EDE-Q is a self-report questionnaire based upon the EDE interview. Like the EDE, it provides a measure of the range and severity of eating disorder features. However, it is not a diagnostic instrument. The EDE-Q is often used when it is impracticable or undesirable to employ the EDE interview. The EDE-Q is available in many languages. The current version is EDE-Q 6.0.
The EDE-Q (and its items) is under copyright. For commercial use of the EDE-Q email: credo@medsci.ox.ac.uk
The EDE-Q is available cost-free for non-commercial research (and no permission need be sought).
Further reading
Fairburn CG & Beglin SJ. Assessment of eating disorder psychopathology: interview or self-report questionnaire? International Journal of Eating Disorders 1994; 16: 363-370.
Fairburn CG, Beglin SJ. Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (6.0). In Fairburn CG. Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.
Peterson CB & Mitchell JE. Self-report measures. In JE Mitchell & CB Peterson (eds.), Assessment of eating disorders (pp. 120-128). New York: Guilford Press, 2005.
The Clinical Impairment Assessment (CIA)
The CIA is a brief self-report measure of the psychosocial impairment stemming from current eating disorder psychopathology. It is designed to be completed after the EDE-Q. It is a continuous measure of the severity of secondary impairment. There is also a threshold score associated with "caseness".
Further reading
Bohn K, Doll HA, Cooper Z, O'Connor ME, Palmer RL, Fairburn CG. The measurement of impairment due to eating disorder psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2008; 46: 1105-1110.
Bohn K, Fairburn CG. Clinical Impairment Assessment Questionnaire (CIA 3.0). In Fairburn CG. Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.