The Athletes' Relationships with Training scale (ART): A self-report measure of unhealthy training behaviors associated with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Several studies indicate that eating-disorder (ED) psychopathology is elevated in athletes compared to non-athletes. The assessment of excessive exercise among athletes is a challenge because, compared to non-athletes, athletes are required to train at higher intensities and for longer periods of time. However, individuals participating in competitive sports are still susceptible to unhealthy physical-activity patterns. Most ED assessments were developed and normed in non-athlete samples and, therefore, do not capture the nuances of athletes' training experiences. The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a clinically useful, self-report measure of unhealthy training behaviors and beliefs in athletes, the Athletes' Relationships with Training Scale (ART). METHOD: The initial item pool was administered to N = 267 women collegiate athletes who were participating in an ED prevention program study and N = 65 women athletes who were in ED treatment. RESULTS: Factor analyses indicated the ART had a four-factor structure. Factorial and construct validity of the ART were demonstrated. ART scores significantly predicted health care utilization and differed between athletes with an ED versus athletes without an ED. For athletes in ED treatment, ART scores significantly decreased from treatment admission to discharge. DISCUSSION: The ART showed evidence of strong psychometric properties and clinical utility. The ART could be helpful for clinicians and athletic trainers to help gauge whether athletes are engaging in unhealthy training practices that may warrant clinical attention and for tracking clinical outcomes in athletes with EDs who are receiving treatment.

New Horizons in Measurement: a Review of Novel and Innovative Approaches to Eating-Disorder Assessment.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Eating disorders are serious mental-health concerns that will affect over 30 million individuals in the USA at some point in their lives. Eating disorders occur across the lifespan, in a variety of ethnicities and races, in both men and women, and across the socioeconomic spectrum. Given the prevalence and severity of eating disorders, it is important that clinicians and researchers have access to appropriate assessment tools to aid in the early identification and treatment referral, differential diagnosis, treatment planning, and progress monitoring, and to ensure valid research findings. In this review, we describe novel and innovative assessment tools that were developed within the past 5 years for utilization in research and/or clinical practice with individuals with eating disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: We identified six multidimensional assessments for eating disorders, all of which can be administered online (with some also offering paper-and-pencil versions). Strengths of the measures included good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. However, in part, due to problematic scale construction methods, certain scales had poor discriminant validity and most were developed and validated in mostly female samples. There are promising new eating disorder measures from which to choose; however, many measures continue to be limited by poor discriminant validity and need additional validation prior to incorporation into routine research and clinical practice.