The Development and Construction of the Social and Clinical Assessment for Linking Eating Disturbances with Treatments (SCALED--\u3eTX): A Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation

The purpose of this research study was to develop a new assessment procedure, the Social and Clinical Assessment for Linking Eating Disorders with Treatments (SCALEDTX), which is based on the foundation of etiological research that informs our modern-day understanding of the factors which predispose individuals to developing symptomatic eating behaviors. The structure of the instrument draws from the strengths of other gold standard assessment tools used with this population of individuals. The SCALEDTX is a multi-format assessment approach, including both a semi-structured format and a self-report measure. Additionally, the battery focuses on the assessment of both specific and general psychopathology. The SCALEDTX includes a total of five measures and provides a multi-method approach to measuring both specific and general psychopathology associated with eating disorders. The focus of the current study was the evaluation of the psychometric aspects of the SCALEDTX. The findings show mixed results. The Specific Psychopathology Scale which measures symptoms specific to eating disorders, displayed adequate reliability and validity. The General Psychopathology Scale, a measure of general psychological well-being, demonstrated adequate levels of internal consistency however, did not demonstrate adequate evidence of validity. The remaining three tests on the SCALEDTX are semi-structured measures which measure various aspects of cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. Reliability for these measures was not evaluated in this study. There was preliminary validity evidence for one of these three tests (the Schematic Stroop) however, there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a claim for validity for the remaining two tests (the Story Picture Cards and the Doll Interviews). Thus, the results of the present study evaluated the psychometric qualities of the SCALEDTX. Some of the scales show promising results however, use of the SCALEDTX is unmerited without conducting additional research for further evaluation of this psychological test battery