The Italian version of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale demonstrates good psychometric properties and reliable assessment of belief-related insight and delusionality across eating disorder categories, according to a Level III analytic study published in Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. The research examined a clinical cohort of 140 patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa-restrictive subtype, binge-eating spectrum disorder, and otherwise specified feeding or eating disorders to establish the scale’s dimensional structure, measurement invariance, and clinical correlates.
Within eating disorder presentations, insight functions as a multidimensional construct comprising illness awareness, symptom recognition, treatment engagement, and the conviction associated with disorder-related beliefs. Although the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale evaluates awareness and beliefs, a validated Italian-language version was previously unavailable, prompting the authors to examine its psychometric profile and associations with clinical measures.
To evaluate the instrument, participants completed the Italian version of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale alongside psychopathology measures, including the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and the Eating Disorder Inventory-2. The evaluation protocol also administered the Binge Eating Scale to quantify binge-eating severity and the Beck Depression Inventory-II to record depressive symptoms, enabling researchers to test reliability and convergent validity.
Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure for the scale with excellent model fit, evidenced by a comparative fit index of 1.00, a Tucker-Lewis index of 1.00, a root mean square error of approximation of 0.00, and a standardized root mean square residual of 0.030. In addition, tests confirmed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across diagnostic groups, and the scale demonstrated good internal consistency with a McDonald’s omega coefficient of 0.81.
Clinical correlation analyses revealed low but statistically significant positive associations between the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale and Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire weight concern at r = 0.21, binge-eating severity at r = 0.20, and Eating Disorder Inventory-2 body dissatisfaction at r = 0.29. No significant associations emerged with depressive symptoms or other eating-related measures, confirming the tool captures a distinct cognitive dimension linked to weight concern, binge-eating symptomatology, and body dissatisfaction rather than depressive symptoms or broader eating disorder psychopathology.
Subject of Research: Italian validation of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale in eating disorders
Article Title: Assessing belief-related insight in eating disorders: Italian validation of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS)
Article References: Carbone, E. A., Aloi, M., Rotella, L., Garofalo, S. M., Vizza, G. F., Quirino, D., & Segura-Garcia, C. (2026). Assessing belief-related insight in eating disorders: Italian validation of the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS). Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-026-01898-6
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s40519-026-01898-6
Keywords: eating disorders, Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale, BABS, belief-related insight, anorexia nervosa, binge-eating spectrum disorder, psychometric validation, body dissatisfaction, Assessing, belief-related, insight, eating
