Validating the Stirling Eating Disorders Scales (SEDS) in an adolescent population.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the validity and utility of the Stirling Eating Disorder Scales (SEDS) as a screening instrument for eating disorders in adolescents.

Method: A total of 53 patients and 61 age-matched controls all completed the SEDS, and patients completed the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE) for construct comparison purposes.

Results: The SEDS was found to have good criterion and discriminant validity, as well as high internal consistency.

The use of the Pros and Cons of Anorexia Nervosa (P-CAN) Scale with children and adolescents.

Objective: The Pros and Cons of Anorexia Nervosa (P-CAN) Scale was developed out of a previous qualitative study [Int J Eat Disord 25 (1999) 177] in which the positive and negative aspects of anorexia nervosa (AN) were elicited from individuals with AN. Principal components analysis was then used in an adult sample to reduce the number of items and to derive empirically and theoretically based subscales [Serpell et al., submitted].

Dissociation in adolescent girls with anorexia: relationship to comorbid psychopathology.

This study investigated the relationship between dissociation and psychological symptoms in adolescent girls with anorexia. First, the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) were examined using data from 181 nonclinical adolescent boys and girls. Thereafter, A-DES scores and correlations with a range of psychological symptoms were compared across 20 girls with anorexia, 19 mixed clinical girls, and 86 nonclinical girls.

Anorexia nervosa: obsessive-compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, or neither?

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe and often chronic disorder with uncertain aetiology and poor prognosis. New approaches to the understanding of the disorder are needed in order to aid the development of more effective treatments. Several authors have suggested that AN has a considerable overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and that this may reflect common neurobiological, genetic, or psychological elements.