The Development and Preliminary Validation of the Disrupted Embodiment Scale
摘要
The current paper presents two studies aimed at developing and validating a quantitative measure of disrupted embodiment (the Disrupted Embodiment Scale; DES), a clinical feature of eating disorders commonly discussed in qualitative literature but rarely examined in quantitative research. Study 1 (N = 403) included women self-identifying as currently experiencing an eating disorder, and Study 2 (N = 140) encompassed undergraduate women. For both studies, participants completed cross-sectional online questionnaires related to their disrupted embodiment, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, bulimic behaviors, eating disorder symptomatology, dieting behaviors, impairment due to eating disorders, and other psychosocial variables. For Study 2, participants completed an additional five-minute survey two weeks later related to disrupted embodiment. Factor analyses revealed a three-factor solution fit both samples well and included three subscales: Body as Hardship, Body as Threat, and Body as Separate from Self. Scalar invariance was established between the two samples. The DES demonstrated stability over a two-week period. Significant correlations were found in both studies between the DES and theoretically similar constructs, providing evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Finally, DES scores explained variance in eating disorder symptomatology and impairment over and above body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness across both studies. Overall, results indicate that the DES yields valid and reliable scores of disrupted embodiment. Furthermore, the current set of studies provides quantitative evidence of disrupted embodiment’s salient role in clinical eating disorders.