Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, USA.
Int J Eat Disord. 2021 Jun;54(6):986-994. doi: 10.1002/eat.23471. Epub 2021 Jan 15.
Individuals with eating disorders (EDs) often have difficulty tolerating uncomfortable body sensations. As such, anxiety sensitivity specific to gastrointestinal (GI) sensations, has relevance for EDs. However, to date, no validated measures of this construct exist in EDs. Thus, the present study sought to validate the visceral sensitivity index (VSI), a 15-item measure originally validated in an irritable bowel syndrome sample, in an ED sample and explore associations with ED symptoms.
Two hundred and sixty-six adolescents (n = 116) and adults (n = 150) in an ED partial hospital program completed the VSI and related measures at admission. Confirmatory factor analysis examined the factor structure of the VSI and hierarchical regression analyses explored associations between the VSI and ED symptoms.
The original version of the VSI had adequate model fit. An alternative 13-item model removing specific items with poor fit and less theoretical relevance to EDs also demonstrated good fit. The 15-item and 13-item VSI had strong internal consistency (α = .93-.94), and correlation results supported the convergent and divergent validity of both versions. Higher visceral sensitivity was associated with elevated body dissatisfaction, cognitive restraint, purging, restricting, and excessive exercise (p-values <.05), beyond length of illness, body mass index, and trait anxiety.
Results support the relevance of GI-specific anxiety in EDs and suggest that the original 15-item VSI and modified 13-item VSI have strong psychometric properties in an ED sample. Given comparable model fit and psychometric properties, both versions of the VSI may be used for future ED research.
患有饮食失调症（ED）的个体通常难以忍受身体不适的感觉。因此，针对胃肠道（GI）感觉的焦虑敏感性与 ED 有关。但是，迄今为止，ED 中尚无该结构的验证措施。因此，本研究旨在验证内脏敏感性指数（VSI），这是一种最初在肠易激综合征样本中验证的 15 项测量方法，在 ED 样本中并探讨与 ED 症状的关联。
在 ED 部分医院计划中，有 266 名青少年（n=116）和成年人（n=150）在入院时完成了 VSI 和相关测量。验证性因素分析检验了 VSI 的因子结构，分层回归分析探讨了 VSI 与 ED 症状之间的关联。
VSI 的原始版本具有足够的模型拟合度。一种去除与 ED 相关性较差且理论相关性较弱的特定项目的替代 13 项模型也表现出良好的拟合度。15 项和 13 项 VSI 具有很强的内部一致性（α=0.93-0.94），相关结果支持两个版本的收敛和发散效度。较高的内脏敏感性与较高的身体不满、认知约束、呕吐、限制和过度运动（p 值<0.05）相关，超出了疾病的长度、体重指数和特质焦虑。
结果支持 GI 特异性焦虑在 ED 中的相关性，并表明原始的 15 项 VSI 和修改后的 13 项 VSI 在 ED 样本中具有很强的心理测量特性。鉴于可比的模型拟合度和心理测量特性，VSI 的两个版本都可以用于未来的 ED 研究。
