Disordered Eating Among Collegiate Athletes

Abstract

Athletes face a unique set of eating disorder (ED) risk factors related to sport participation. However, existing ED risk measures for this population are limited in their use as screening tools by their length and focus on a single gender. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Eating Disorders Screen for Athletes (EDSA), a brief screening tool for both male and female athletes. Methods: Data from Division I athletes at a Midwestern university (N=434) were used to conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by gender. Data from college athletes competing at various levels across the United States (N=482) were used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis by gender. Athletes from a range of lean and non-lean sports were included. Gender-specific empirically derived cut-offs on the Eating Disorder Examination- Questionnaire were used to identify ED cases and non-cases for the ROC curve analysis. Results: A 5- item, 1-factor structure for the EDSA was supported by EFA and CFA in both males and females. ROC curve analyses indicated that the EDSA was highly accurate in distinguishing between cases and non- cases and identified a score of 3.6 as the optimal cut-off for both males (sensitivity=.96, specificity=.86) and females (sensitivity=.91, specificity=.67). Conclusions: The EDSA shows promise as a brief screening tool to identify male and female athletes at risk for EDs.