The Hungarian Adaptation of the Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire.

Aim: It is recommended to consider multiple sources of information when assessing eating disorder symptoms in adolescents. The Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (PEDE-Q) measures the parent-reported eating disorder symptoms of adolescents. The aim of the present study was to validate the Hungarian version of the PEDE-Q in a community- based Hungarian sample. Our further aim was to examine the relationship between the questionnaire and adolescents' self-reported eating disorder symptoms, as well as parents' own eating attitudes.

Method: 201 parents aged between 32 and 68 years (155 mothers) completed the PEDE-Q and the Eating Attitudes Test-26. Additionally, 195 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (55.7% girls) completed the self-administered Psychiatric Scales for Children and Adolescents - Psychogenic Eating Scale. We conducted confirmatory factor analyses to examine the factor structure of the Hungarian PEDE-Q. For further bivariate analyses, we used Pearson correlations.

Results: After adding modification indices, the revised hierarchical model, where the three first-order factors (Restraint, Eating Concern, and Shape/Weight Concern) loaded onto a second-order general eating disorder factor, showed acceptable properties (CFI = 1.000, TLI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.031 [90% CI: 0.017-0.042], SRMR = 0.084; α = 0.83-0.94). A moderate positive correlation was found between the self-reported and the parent-reported adolescent eating disorder symptoms. The results also showed a weak positive correlation between the parent-reported adolescent symptoms and the parents' own symptoms.

Conclusion: The Hungarian Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire is a valid and reliable measure of parent-reported eating disorder symptoms of adolescents. The association between adolescent and parental reports highlights the importance of multi- informant assessments in identifying eating disorder symptoms in youth. (Neuropsychopharmacol Hung 2025; 27(3): 169-184)