Validation of parent-report questionnaires for large-scale online screening of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder in children and adolescents

Objective: Studies assessing the validity of screening measures for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) remain scarce. We evaluated the diagnostic performance and validity of an online, parent-reported screening approach for ARFID in a population-based sample of children. Methods: Participants were drawn from the ARFID Initiative Sweden (ARIES) cohort and included 65 children aged 6-14 years. Parents completed three screening questionnaires (Pica, ARFID, and Rumination Disorder Interview-ARFID Questionnaire [PARDI-AR-Q], Nine-Item ARFID Screen [NIAS], and Parent Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire [PEDE-Q]), followed by a diagnostic interview (PARDI). Diagnostic performance indices (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], and negative predictive value [NPV]) were calculated. Convergent validity was assessed via correlations between questionnaire and interview dimensions. Results: The combined screening algorithm demonstrated perfect sensitivity and NPV, indicating accurate detection of all ARFID cases and exclusion of non-cases. Specificity was high (0.83), and PPVs ranged from 0.91 to 0.95, decreasing to 0.78 under a more conservative operationalization of ARFID Criterion A4 (psychosocial impairment). Diagnostic performance varied across ARFID criteria: PPVs were low for medically anchored Criteria A1-A3 but high for Criterion A4 (psychosocial impairment; PPV=0.95). Correlations between screening measures and corresponding interview dimensions were generally moderate to strong, supporting convergent validity. Children meeting threshold ARFID criteria showed significantly greater symptom severity than subthreshold cases at screening. Discussion: These findings support the use of a multi-instrument, parent-reported screening approach for ARFID in large-scale pediatric research and highlight the centrality of psychosocial impairment, underscoring the need for standardized operationalization of this criterion.