| Abstract: | Most interviews of eating disorders have been developed on homogeneous, English‐speaking samples at particular academic institutions for research purposes, and tend to put scientific rigour before clinical utility. The present study deals with the development and preliminary validation of the Rating of Anorexia and Bulimia (RAB), a 56 item interview covering a wide range of eating disorder symptoms, related psychopathology and background variables, which can be used to generate operational DSM‐IV diagnoses. Eating disorder variables on the RAB can be compiled into four subscales: Body‐shape and Weight Preoccupation, Binge‐Eating, Anorexic Eating Behaviour and Compensatory Behaviour. The instrument was investigated among 409 patients participating in the Swedish multi‐centre study of eating disorders. Measures of internal consistency, diagnostic discrimination and correlations with the EDI‐2 suggest that the RAB is a promising measure that reliably measures important aspects of eating disorder psychopathology. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. |
