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Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2009) 18:321325 DOI 10.1007/s00787-008-0732-6
BRIEF REPORT
The German version of the Anorectic Behavior Observation Scale (ABOS)
Harriet Salbach-Andrae Nora Klinkowski Martin Holzhausen Katja FrielerInga Bohnekamp Cornelia Thiels Caroline Bender Walter Vandereycken
j Abstract Objective To assess the performance of the German version of the Anorectic Behavior Observation Scale (ABOS) as a parent-report screening instrument for eating disorders (ED) in their children. Methods Parents of 101 ED female patients (80 with Anorexia Nervosa; 21 with Bulimia Nervosa) and of 121 age- and socioeconomic status (SES)-
matched female controls completed the ABOS. Results Conrmatory factor analysis supported the original three-factor structure model of the ABOS. Cronbachs alpha coefcients indicated good internal consistency for the three factors and the total score in the total sample. The best cut-off point (100% sensitivity and spec-icity) in the German version was 23. Conclusion The ABOS may be a useful additional instrument for assessing ED.
j Key words anorexia nervosa bulimia nervosa questionnaire conrmatory factor analysis
Received: 11 March 2008 Accepted: 23 September 2008 Published online: 22 January 2009
H. Salbach-Andrae (&) N. KlinkowskiI. BohnekampDept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry CharitBerlin, GermanyE-Mail: [email protected]
M. Holzhausen K. FrielerDept. of Biostatistics and Clinical EpidemiologyCharitBerlin, Germany
C. ThielsDept. of Social Studies University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, Germany
C. BenderDept. of Psychology University of Freiburg Freiburg, Germany
W. VandereyckenDept. of Psychology Catholic University Leuven Leuven, Germany
Introduction
Various self-report instruments have been developed to assess symptoms related to eating disorders. The widely used Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40: [11]; EAT-26: [12]) and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI: [13]; EDI-2: [10]; EDI-3: [9]) for example, were designed to explore cognitive and behavioural symptoms of eating disorders (ED). These instruments provide information helpful in understanding the patient. As the psychopathology related to ED is very heterogeneous, such descriptive information is particularly relevant in individual cases.
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) can develop from about 8 years of age, reaching a peak between 15 and
18 years. Bulimia Nervosa (BN) becomes more common in young adulthood [14]. Within these age-groups, gathering data from the patients parents and including them in the treatment is very important, because patients suffering from ED often deny or minimize their own disorder [4, 15, 16, 18, 20].
The Anorectic Behavior Observation Scale (ABOS)...