It is incredibly brave to take a step toward self-reflection regarding your relationship with food and your body.
Please remember that this is a screening tool, not a clinical diagnosis.
If you are struggling, I highly recommend reaching out for an initial consultation or contacting the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
The Self-Assessment tool uses the EDDS questionnaire, a validated screening tool for eating disorders, but an online assessment is not a substitute for a clinical consultation! Use this tool for initial feedback only.
Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS)
1. Over the past 3 months have you felt fat?
2. Over the past 3 months have you had a definite fear that you might gain weight or become fat?
3. Over the past 3 months has your weight influenced how you think about (judge) yourself as a person?
4. Over the past 3 months has your shape influenced how you think about (judge) yourself as a person?
5. During the past 6 months have there been times when you felt you have eaten what other people would regard as an unusually large amount of food given the circumstances?
6. During the times when you ate an unusually large amount of food, did you experience a loss of control?
7. How many TIMES per week on average over the past 3 MONTHS have you eaten an unusually large amount of food and experienced a loss of control?
8. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you eat much more rapidly than normal?
9. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you eat until you felt uncomfortably full?
10. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you eat large amounts of food when you didn’t feel physically hungry?
11. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you eat alone because you were embarrassed by how much you were eating?
12. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you feel disgusted with yourself, depressed, or very guilty after overeating?
13. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you feel very upset about your uncontrollable overeating or resulting weight gain?
14. During these episodes of overeating and loss of control did you feel very upset about your uncontrollable overeating or resulting weight gain?
15. How many times per week on average over the past 3 months have you made yourself vomit to prevent weight gain or counteract the effects of eating?
16. How many times per week on average over the past 3 months have you used laxatives or diuretics to prevent weight gain or counteract the effects of eating?
17. How many times per week on average over the past 3 months have you fasted (skipped at least 2 meals in a row) to prevent weight gain or counteract the effects of eating?
18. How many times per week on average over the past 3 months have you engaged in excessive exercise specifically to counteract the effects of overeating episodes?
19. How much do you weigh?
20. How tall are you?
21. Over the past 3 months, how many menstrual periods have you missed?
22. Have you been taking birth control pills during the past 3 months?
The Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) is a 22-item self-report tool designed for adolescents and adults aged 13 to 65. It evaluates symptoms related to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder by asking about body image, eating behaviors, and compensatory actions over the past 3 to 6 months. Developed by Stice and colleagues in 2000, the EDDS was adapted from the established Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) and the DSM-IV Structured Clinical Interview’s eating disorder module.
Although research on the EDDS is limited, studies indicate that it is a reliable and valid measure capable of identifying both full and subthreshold presentations of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. The EDDS generates a continuous symptom score, making it useful for screening purposes and tracking treatment progress, though it is not intended as a standalone diagnostic instrument. Eating disorders are often accompanied by distorted attitudes toward body shape and weight and frequently co-occur with conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and personality disorders.
References
Stice E, Telch CF, Rizvi SL: Development and validation of the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale: a brief self-report measure of anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder.
Psychological Assessment 2000, 12 (2): 123-31
Krabbenborg MA, Danner UN, Larsen JK, et al.: The Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale: psychometric features within a clinical population and a cut-off point to differentiate clinical patients from healthy controls.
European Eating Disorders Review: the Journal of the Eating Disorders Association 2012, 20 (4): 315-20
Stice E, Fisher M, Martinez E.: Eating disorder diagnostic scale: additional evidence of reliability and validity.
Psychological Assessment 2004, 16 (1): 60-7
Kelly NR, Mitchell KS, Gow RW, et al.: An evaluation of the reliability and construct validity of eating disorder measures in white and black women.
Psychological Assessment 2012, 24 (3): 608-617
The Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) calculator is created by QxMD.