The Spanish validation of an Eating Disorders Symptom Impact Scale (EDSIS) among caregivers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Eating Disorders Symptom Impact Scale (EDSIS-S), which is designed to evaluate an eating disorders-specific caregiving experience. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 187 Spanish caregivers of relatives with an eating disorder. Measures included the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Socio-demographic variables of the carers and clinical variables of the patients were collected. Results supported the factorial structure, reliability and convergent validity of the instrument and the instrument was acceptable for assessing the eating disorders-specific experience of caregiving in Spain. Almost all of the factor loadings were >0.40. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were mostly superior to 0.70. The EDSIS-S instrument has good psychometric properties and is similar to the original in terms of validity and reliability. Further examination of the factor structure of this instrument among adult samples is indicated. From a clinical perspective, the EDSIS allows for tailoring caregiver interventions to address the specific impact of symptoms on individual carers.

Keywords: Caregivers; Eating disorder; Reliability; Specific caregiving experience; Validation.