Binge Eating Assessment

This chapter provides an overview of binge eating assessments that are commonly used for diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment planning, ongoing assessment, and treatment outcome. Included is a review of well-validated clinical interviews, self-report measures, and laboratory eating paradigms that are available for the assessment of binge-eating disorder (BED) in clinical and research contexts. Assessments with adequate psychometric properties are described, and benefits, limitations, and criteria assessed to aid in the selection of an appropriate measure for each context and question. This chapter describes disorders characterized by binge eating based on DSM-5 criteria and relevant updates from ICD-11. A review of clinical interviews including the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), Eating Disorder Assessment for DSM-5 (EDA-5), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5) are provided along with evaluations of self-report measures including the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI), Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns (QWEP), and self-monitoring completed within the context of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Finally, laboratory eating paradigms are discussed as a useful and objective real-time assessment of eating behavior. In sum, this chapter provides information that may assist clinicians and researchers in understanding and selecting appropriate measures to evaluate binge eating.