Zheng Lin, Pickett William, Liu Jian, Leatherdale Scott T, Patte Karen A
Department of Health Sciences, Brock University, Niagara Region, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Carruthers Hall, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, ON, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Canada.
J Eat Disord. 2025 Jul 10;13(1):132. doi: 10.1186/s40337-025-01332-9.
For use in population-level surveys, there is a need for brief measures of disordered eating (DE) that demonstrate validity among diverse adolescents. This study aimed to (1) assess the measurement invariance of a short DE scale among high school students in Canada, and (2) estimate differences in scale scores across student sociodemographic subgroups.
We used student-level survey data collected during the 2021/2022 school year in the COMPASS study. The sample included 24,639 students in grades 9-12 from 69 secondary schools in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, Canada. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was applied to assess measurement invariance (i.e., configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance) of the 6-item DE scale, and one-way ANOVA and mixed linear regression were implemented to estimate scale score differences across population subgroups (by grade, gender, race and ethnicity, family affluence, and weight status).
Results demonstrated full measurement invariance of the DE scale across student sociodemographic subgroups. Higher sum scale scores indicated greater engagement in DE thoughts or behaviours. Students in higher school grade (e.g., grade 12), transgender and gender diverse youth, and cisgender girls reported higher DE scores compared to their grade 9 and cisgender boy peers. Elevated DE scores were also observed among adolescents of Middle Eastern and Another or Multiethnic identity, students with less affluent households, and those with higher body weights, relative to their White, more affluent, and relatively lower weight peers, respectively.
Results indicate the DE scale measures the same construct across various subgroups of adolescents, providing confidence that differences in scale scores found by grade, gender, race and ethnicity, affluence, and weight reflect actual differences in DE rather than artifactual differences in scale interpretation. This scale warrants additional psychometric testing as a promising brief DE measure suitable for large population-level youth surveys. Our results provide important new evidence from a large contemporary sample of adolescents demonstrating elevated risk of DE among specific subgroups and emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.
在进行人群层面的调查时，需要有简短的饮食失调（DE）测量方法，且该方法要在不同青少年群体中具有效度。本研究旨在：（1）评估加拿大高中生中一个简短DE量表的测量不变性；（2）估计学生社会人口学亚组之间量表得分的差异。
我们使用了COMPASS研究在2021/2022学年收集的学生层面调查数据。样本包括来自加拿大艾伯塔省、不列颠哥伦比亚省和安大略省69所中学的9至12年级的24,639名学生。应用多组验证性因素分析来评估6项DE量表的测量不变性（即构型不变性、度量不变性、标量不变性和严格不变性），并采用单因素方差分析和混合线性回归来估计不同人群亚组（按年级、性别、种族和族裔、家庭富裕程度和体重状况）之间的量表得分差异。
结果表明，DE量表在学生社会人口学亚组中具有完全测量不变性。较高的量表总分表明在DE思维或行为方面的参与度更高。与9年级学生和顺性别男孩同龄人相比，高年级（如12年级）学生、跨性别和性别多样化青年以及顺性别女孩报告的DE得分更高。相对于白人、更富裕和体重相对较低的同龄人，中东及其他或多种族身份的青少年、家庭不太富裕的学生以及体重较高的学生的DE得分也有所升高。
结果表明，DE量表在不同青少年亚组中测量的是同一结构，这让人相信按年级、性别、种族和族裔、富裕程度和体重发现的量表得分差异反映的是DE的实际差异，而非量表解释中的人为差异。作为一种有前景的适合大规模人群层面青少年调查的简短DE测量方法，该量表值得进行额外的心理测量测试。我们的结果从一个大型当代青少年样本中提供了重要的新证据，表明特定亚组中DE风险升高，并强调了针对性干预的必要性。
