Validation of the Factor Structure and Psychometric and Clinical Properties of the Multidimensional Emotional Disorder Inventory (MEDI) - German Version

The empirically proven high prevalence and comorbidity of emotional disorders underscore the need for transdiagnostic measures in routine clinical practice and psychotherapy research. The Multidimensional Emotional Disorder Inventory (MEDI) is a brief, transdiagnostic measure assessing nine dimensions of emotional disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric and clinical properties of the German version of the MEDI. The translated version was administered to a large sample including both healthy individuals and patients from two university-based outpatient psychotherapy clinics (N = 1129). Test-retest data from 273 individuals was used to estimate duration-adjusted retest reliabilities over an interval of approximately 7 months. Convergent and discriminant validity of the MEDI scales were evaluated by analysing information on other clinically relevant constructs, including self-report measures for various symptoms, personality traits and disorders, as well as confirmed clinical diagnoses. Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) was employed to examine the factor structure, resulting in a satisfactory overall fit of the original nine-factor model, albeit with reduced consistency for the Avoidance scale. Overall, the MEDI scales showed high estimates of internal consistency (Cronbach´s α between .73-.92) and acceptable test-retest reliabilities (rtt between .58-.78). Correlations with other established symptom and personality measures, as well as clinical diagnoses, were consistent with expectations and demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. In conclusion, the German version of the MEDI demonstrated good psychometric properties, making it particularly suitable as a dimensional measure for evaluating differential effects of therapeutic interventions for emotional disorders in both clinical practice and research contexts.