Validation of the Body Dysmorhpic Screener of DSM-5 criteria (BDDS-5)

Abstract

Body dysmorphic disorder is a psychiatric disorder with a substantial psychosocial impact, early age of onset and high patient delay. Many factors such as the overlap with eating disorders complicate the diagnostic process of BDD. To this end the BDDS-5 has been developed. This study aimed to establish the reliability and validity of the BDDS-5, and investigated whether an additional section for excluding an eating disorder could be removed. Results showed that the BDDS-5 had a good internal reliability (with the exception of one item), convergent and concurrent validity and proved that the additional eating disorder section could be omitted. Evidence of divergent validity however, could not be assumed. Possible explanations for unexpected results are provided, strengths and limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions are made for further research and the application of the BDDS-5 in clinical practice.