Assessing Insight in Eating Disorders: Italian Validation and Measurement Invariance of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS)
Abstract
Abstract Purpose Body image-related beliefs in eating disorders (EDs) can range from poor awareness to delusional beliefs. The Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS) is a widely used clinician-administered instrument to assess awareness and beliefs, but a validated Italian version is unavailable. This study aimed to validate the Italian version of the BABS and examine its psychometric properties and clinical correlates in a sample of EDs patients. Methods One hundred and forty patients with anorexia nervosa-restrictive subtype, binge-eating spectrum disorder and other specified eating disorders were recruited. Participants completed the BABS and questionnaires on eating disorder psychopathology (EDE-Q, EDI-2), binge-eating severity (BES), and depressive symptoms (BDI-II). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the dimensional structure of the BABS and the measurement of invariance across diagnostic groups. Reliability and convergent validity were examined. Results CFA supported a unidimensional structure of the BABS with excellent model fit (CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0.00, SRMR = 0.035). Measurement invariance analyses confirmed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across diagnostic groups. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency (ω = 0.81). BABS showed low but significant positive correlations with EDE-Q weight concern (r = 0.21), binge eating severity (r = 0.20), and EDI-2 body dissatisfaction (r = 0.29), while no significant associations emerged…
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Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
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