Using the SCOFF Questionnaire to assess Eating Disorders: SSWN Open Access 2020
Editor’s Note: In this SSWN Open Access 2020 series, we’re sharing the articles from the just-published open-access International Journal of School Social Work (published by SSWAA, and where I serve as Editor-in-Chief) with SSWN readers and to invite authors and practitioners to interact with this original research here and over at our SSWNetwork platform. The sixth article is a more technical article by Dr. Gerald J. Bean (Ohio State University) that had as its aim “to examine the psychometric properties of a popular eating order screening scale—the SCOFF Questionnaire—in a seventh-grade population using Item Response Theory.” and Dr. Bean wrote in the conclusion to his paper:
The most important take-away from this study is that our results do not support the generally recommended scoring rule that a summed score of two or greater flags a seventh grade respondent as being at eating disorder risk. This scoring rule assumes that SCOFF items are equally weighted as indicators of risk. Our results suggest that items are not equally weighted either overall or within male and female groups.
An-IRT-analysis-of-the-SCOFF-Questionnaire-in-a-seventh-grade-population
Tell us what you think and share how you might use this research on screening for eating disorders where you practice, over at SSWNetwork.
