Validity refers to whether a test/instrument measures what it is supposed to measure (i.e., does an eating Veliparib concentration disorder measure accurately assess the severity of eating disorder behaviors in athletes?) and can be measured in a number of ways (e.g., concurrent, predictive, convergent).32 The validity of a measure can be further evaluated via tests of measurement invariance to determine whether an instrument measures the same

construct (e.g., severity of eating disorder behaviors) across different groups (e.g., male/female, cycling/swimming).33 Reliability refers to the consistency of the measurement scores on a test/instrument measuring a certain attribute (e.g., if the same individual is administered an eating disorder assessment GSI-IX solubility dmso twice, does the score remain the same and/or have very little variation?) and can also be measured in several ways (e.g., test-retest reliability, internal consistency).34 To date, little is known about whether eating disorder measures are valid and reliable in both male and female athlete populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) gather information about which eating disorder measures are most commonly used with male and female athletes and (2) review the validity and reliability evidence of the various psychometric measures used for assessing ED in male

and female athlete populations 18–26 years of age. To our knowledge, no other review has undertaken this task. Ensuring valid and reliable eating disorder assessments in athlete populations will allow for the accurate measurement much and potential treatment of ED among athletes. The databases searched were SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and

PsycINFO. The search process was completed using the keywords “validity”, “reliability”, “eating disorders”, “disordered eating”, “college”, and “athletes” in varying combinations from September 1990 to June 2012. Disordered eating refers to an individual possessing a disruption in feeding behaviors that does not meet the criteria for a clinical eating disorder diagnosis.1 and 35 It was included as a search term because the focus of the current study was on eating disorder assessments, many of which are not only used to assess ED, but also commonly used to concurrently examine disordered eating in the literature. Three inclusion criteria were designated. First, the study had to be an original research article written in English. Second, the study must have assessed ED in an athletic population of 18–26 years of age. The age range of 18–26 years was chosen because this is a period in an athlete’s life when she/he is competing in the highest level of sport competition (i.e., college, national, or international) as well as the time period when individuals are most susceptible to ED.