Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the validity of scores on the Eating Concerns (EAT) scale on the recently released Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3), which aims to assess for problematic eating behaviours. It was hypothesised that the EAT scale scores would be correlated with binge eating, purging, restrictive eating, weight and body shape concerns. Participants were 396 university students, who completed a series of well-validated eating disorder measures. The EAT scale scores evidenced moderate to large correlations with many symptom dimensions of EDs, including binge eating, purging, restrictive eating and weight and shape concern, thus, supporting the hypotheses and showing evidence for criterion validity. Hierarchical regression analyses also revealed incremental validity for the EAT scale above and beyond other MMPI-3 Specific Problems scale scores. Overall, scores on the new MMPI-3 EAT scale were associated with positive support for validity in a university population and seem promising as a good screening measure for eating pathology.
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Data and analysis code are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. It will not be stored in a public repository for test security purposes and in accordance with ethics approval.
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This study was supported by University of Minnesota Press.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by NV and TB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by NV and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Martin Sellbom is a paid consultant to the University of Minnesota Press, publisher of the MMPI-3, which was used in this study. He also received grant funding for this research project from the University of Minnesota Press.
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The University of Otago Human Ethics Committee (Health) approved this research.
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Vaňousová, N., Brown, T.A. & Sellbom, M. Criterion and Incremental Validity of the MMPI-3 Eating Concerns Scale in a University Sample. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 29, 34–43 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-021-09772-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-021-09772-6