The Body Image Quality of Life Inventory: further validation with college men and women

The Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI) was recently developed to quantify both the positive and negative effects of body image on one’s psychosocial quality of life. The current study was conducted to further validate the measure with both men and women and to evaluate its psychometric reliability and validity among college students (N=603). Results confirmed that the 19-item measure was an internally consistent and unidimensional measure for both sexes. A significantly more favorable body image quality of life was reported by men than women, by African American than White women, and by women with lower body mass indices. Significant body image correlates included body image evaluation, investment, and situational dysphoria. A better body image quality of life was also related to higher self-esteem, optimism, and social support for both sexes and to less eating disturbance among women. The potential utility of this construct and unique instrument in further research, especially with medical populations, is discussed.     

The norms and stability of new measures of the multidimensional body image construct

The measurement of the body image construct has become increasingly multidimensional. New assessments are available to measure various facets of body image functioning: The Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire, Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised, Body Image Coping Strategies Inventory, and Body Image Quality of Life Inventory. The present article reports normative data and acceptable internal reliabilities across seven completed investigations using these measures with female and male college students. Sex differences were examined and found, as expected, for most of the measures. In addition, a study evaluated an undetermined but essential psychometric property of these facets of the construct—their test–retest reliability. In a sample of 107 college students, the 2-week stability of these measures was found to be acceptable. Several directions for future research with these assessments are identified.     

Relationships Between Men’s and Women’s Body Image and Their Psychological, Social, and Sexual Functioning

This study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning throughout adulthood. The respondents were 211 men and 226 women (age range 18–86 years; mean = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of self-rated attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Body image was associated with self-esteem for all groups, but was unrelated to other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. There were some exceptions; a disturbance in body image was related to problematic social and sexual functioning among middle-aged men and to depression and anxiety symptoms in late adulthood among men and women. Middle-aged men who presented with the type of body image disturbance typical of women were more likely to have impaired interpersonal functioning. These results demonstrate that social aspects of body image appear to be important in understanding psychological functioning in later life.     

Interoceptive sensitivity,body image dissatisfaction,and body awareness in healthy individuals

Relationships among interoceptive sensitivity (IS), body image dissatisfaction, body mass index (BMI), and self‐reported body awareness were investigated in a cross‐sectional study. Eighty‐two Norwegian high school students and 70 Hungarian undergraduate university students participated in the study. Subjects completed two questionnaires (Body Image Ideals Questionnaire – BIQ; Body Awareness Questionnaire – BAQ) followed by the assessment of interoceptive sensitivity using the Mental Tracking Method (MTM). An inverse, medium‐level relationship between body image dissatisfaction and IS was found in both the Norwegian and the Hungarian samples. The relationships between IS and self‐reported body awareness, and between body image dissatisfaction and BMI were uniformly non‐significant in both samples. Predictors of body image dissatisfaction were resting heart rate, gender, and IS in the regression analysis after controlling for BMI, age, and nationality. The negative relationship between IS and body image dissatisfaction described in patients with anorexia nervosa also exists in healthy individuals. There is no direct connection between IS and self‐reported body awareness.     

Self-reported interference with academic functioning and eating disordered symptoms: associations with multiple dimensions of body image

A sample of 1583 undergraduates completed a multidimensional measure of body image (Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, MBSRQ) and a new scale, the Eating and Body Image Disturbances Academic Interference Scale (EBIDAIS). All five subscales of the MBSRQ were related to higher levels of self-reported interference with academic functioning in correlational analyses. For the entire sample, a regression revealed that only the appearance orientation subscale of the MBSRQ did not explain unique variance associated with EBIDAIS scores. A few gender differences emerged when separate regressions were conducted, however, overweight preoccupation was the variable that predicted the largest unique variance for both genders. The results suggest that academic interference should be considered as a possible variable when evaluating the social and occupational problems associated with body image disturbance.     

More than just body weight: The role of body image in psychological and physical functioning

The current study examined BMI and body image dissatisfaction as predictors of physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQL) and psychosocial functioning in a sample of 414 undergraduate students (mean age = 21.5, SD = 4.9; mean BMI = 23.6, SD = 5.2). In men and women, higher BMI was correlated with body image dissatisfaction and physical HRQL, but not with any measures of psychosocial functioning, whereas higher body image dissatisfaction was associated with poorer physical HRQL and psychosocial functioning. Furthermore, body image dissatisfaction was observed to mediate the relationship between BMI and physical HRQL in men and women. Interestingly, in this model, higher BMI predicted increased self-esteem. These findings suggest that body image dissatisfaction may be an important target for health interventions.     

German translation and psychometric evaluation of the Body Appreciation Scale

This paper examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), a novel scale for the assessment of positive body image. Based on a community sample of 156 women and 144 men in Austria, results showed good internal reliability and construct validity for the BAS scores, as well as a unidimensional factor structure for both women and men. Specifically, Cronbach's alpha was high for both women ( = .90) and men ( = .85), and the BAS was correlated with the body esteem scale and self-esteem. In addition, women with lower BMIs reported greater body appreciation, but no such association was found for men. Finally, there were small sex differences in BAS scores, with men scoring more positively than women (Cohen's d = 0.26). The German BAS, a useful indicator of positive body image among Austrian adults, should prove valuable for the assessment of body image in German-speaking countries.     

Gender-based differential item functioning in common measures of body dissatisfaction

Many widely used measures of body image were developed using all-female samples and thus may not adequately capture the male experience of body dissatisfaction. The current study examined differential item functioning (DIF) in three commonly-used measures of body image: The Body Shape Questionnaire (N = 590, 39.7% male), the Body Dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorders Inventory (N = 529, 44.6% male), and the Shape and Weight Concern subscales of the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (N = 1116, 43.5% male). Participants completed a series of measures evaluating body image and eating pathology. Results evidenced statistically significant DIF in several of the items; one item met criteria for clinically significant DIF. While most items did not evidence clinically elevated levels of DIF, additional evaluation is necessary in order to determine overall quality of the measures in terms of capturing the experience of male body image concerns.     

Men's body depilation: An exploratory study of United States college students’ preferences,attitudes, and practices

Young men in Western cultures frequently engage in body depilation practices, but little is known regarding how such bodies are perceived. This exploratory study asked United States college students (N = 238) to view six pictures of the same male body with different amounts of visible body hair and to indicate which body was most sexually attractive to themselves, to most men, and to most women. Both men and women chose a relatively hairless male body as the most sexually attractive. Women, however, thought men would choose a hairier body than men actually did. Most of the men reduced or removed body hair, especially from the pubic area. Questionnaire responses indicated that men and women had similar attitudes toward men's body hair, with both hair reduction and hair retention being socially acceptable. Men's body depilation, while still optional, may be becoming normative, at least among United States college students.     

Relationships between dissatisfaction with specific body characteristics and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3 and Objectified Body Consciousness Scale

Body dissatisfaction was studied in 123 predominately European-American college women. Desired changes in body characteristics were associated with scores on the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3) and the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS). All SATAQ-3 measures were associated with desired changes in bust size and height, but were not related to desired upper body size. In contrast, the OBCS Surveillance and Body Shame Scales were related to desired upper body size, but were not related to desired bust size or height. As hypothesized, the SATAQ-3 Pressure and Internalization-General Scales and the OBCS Surveillance and Body Shame Scales were related to desired weight and lower body size. Results indicate body dissatisfaction is a complex construct and different aspects of this construct are related to different dispositional measures. Results also indicate that the OBCS is a more narrowly focused measure than the SATAQ-3.     

Perfectionistic self-presentation, body image, and eating disorder symptoms

A specific model for eating disorder symptoms involving perfectionistic self-presentation and two different moderators (i.e., body image evaluation and body image investment) was tested. Participants completed measures of perfectionistic self-presentation, body image dysfunction, and eating disorder symptoms. Findings indicated that all three dimensions of perfectionistic self-presentation were associated with eating disorder symptoms. Results also showed that perfectionistic self-presentation predicted eating disorder symptoms in women who were dissatisfied with their bodies, but that it did not predict eating problems in women who liked their bodies and felt there was little or no discrepancy between their actual and ideal appearances. Body image investment did not moderate the relationship between perfectionistic self-presentation and eating disorder symptoms, suggesting that ego-involvement alone is insufficient to promote eating disturbance in the context of perfectionism. The importance of self-presentation components of perfectionism and specific body image difficulties in predicting eating disorder symptoms are discussed.     

The impact of gender on the assessment of body checking behavior

Body checking includes any behavior aimed at global or specific evaluations of appearance characteristics. Men and women are believed to express these behaviors differently, possibly reflecting different socialization. However, there has been no empirical test of the impact of gender on body checking. A total of 1024 male and female college students completed two measures of body checking, the Body Checking Questionnaire and the Male Body Checking Questionnaire. Using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, differential item functioning (DIF) was explored in a composite of these measures. Two global latent factors were identified (female and male body checking severity), and there were expected gender differences in these factors even after controlling for DIF. Ten items were found to be unbiased by gender and provide a suitable brief measure of body checking for mixed gender research. Practical applications for body checking assessment and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Evaluating the convergence of muscle appearance attitude measures

There has been growing interest in the assessment of a muscular appearance. Given the importance of assessing muscle appearance attitudes, the aim of this study was to explore the convergence of the Drive for Muscularity Scale, Somatomorphic Matrix, Contour Drawing Rating Scale, Male Figure Drawings, and the Muscularity Rating Scale. Participants were 76 men and 103 women who each completed four measures of body image that were meant to evaluate two distinct domains of appearance attitudes: muscularity and body fat. For both genders, data indicated low convergence among muscularity measures, but high convergence among body fat measures. For men, the Drive for Muscularity Body Image subscale exhibited the greatest concurrent validity with behaviors used to increase muscularity. The results are discussed in light of the selection of methods for the assessment of muscle appearance attitudes.     

A Cross-Cultural Exploration: Body Image in Older Black and White Women in the Workplace

This study investigated body image attitudes in a non-clinical sample of black and white older professional women in the workplace in South Africa. Participants were 125 professional women (white woman n=76 and black women n = 49). They completed the shortened version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) (Cooper, Taylor, Cooper & Fairburn, 1987). The BSQ is a self-report instrument that measures weight and shape concerns. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests for independent samples were used to determine the univariate relationships between variables. Following this, a two-way analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to explore the interaction between ethnicity and BMI. The results indicate that Body Mass Index (BMI) and ethnicity are significantly and independently related to the body shape image. Women with higher BMI scores tended to have more concern about their bodies. Black women with higher BMI scores had more concerns than their white colleagues.     

Validation of self-ideal body size discrepancy as a measure of body dissatisfaction

Recently, body dissatisfaction has been conceptualized as the discrepancy between self and ideal body size estimates. This study evaluated the validity of this conceptualization using three methods for estimating actual and ideal body size: (a) the Body Image Assessment, (b) the Body Image Testing System, and (c) the Body Image Detection Device. The three body image assessment procedures were concurrently administered to a sample of 110 women diagnosed: bulimia nervosa (n=18),obese (n=34),and non-eating disorder (n=58).The Eating Disorder Inventory Body Dissatisfaction scale was also used to measure body dissatisfaction. Measures of self-ideal body size discrepancy were found to correlate more highly with measures of body dissatisfaction than were measures of current body size perception, ideal body size, body size estimation accuracy, or indices based on actual body size. Estimation of both current and ideal body size were found to significantly predict overall body dissatisfaction; thus, both self and ideal body size measures were found to be significant components in determining body size dissatisfaction. These data were interpreted as supportive of the conceptualization of body dissatisfaction as the discrepancy between self and ideal body size estimates.     

Body image in social anxiety disorder,obsessive–compulsive disorder,and panic disorder

Body dysmorphic disorder falls under the category of obsessive–compulsive and related disorders, yet research has suggested it may also be highly associated with social anxiety disorder. The current study examined body image variables among 68 outpatients with primary obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD; n = 22), social anxiety disorder (SAD; n = 25), and panic disorder (PD; n = 21). Participants filled out self-report measures of body image disturbance, attitudes toward one's appearance, and anxiety. Body image disturbance and attitudes toward appearance did not significantly differ between the groups. However, SAD symptoms predicted body image disturbance, Appearance Evaluation and Body Areas Satisfaction, and OCD symptoms predicted Appearance Orientation. These findings suggest that SAD and OCD may be associated with different facets of body image. Implications for the treatment of anxiety disorders and for future research are discussed.     

Associations among body dissatisfaction,gender, and three latent profiles of religiosity

Body dissatisfaction is a too-common issue for young women in the US. Body dissatisfaction is a rising issue with young men too, although their average body dissatisfaction remains lower than young women’s. Religiosity has been negatively linked to body dissatisfaction for women, but the relation for men is unclear. The current study (N?=?5104) built upon a previous latent profile analysis of a large, diverse sample of US. college students Multi-Site University Study of Identity and Culture (MUSIC). We examined whether body dissatisfaction scores were related to three religious classes, when depressive symptoms were controlled for, and whether gender moderated that potential relation. Body dissatisfaction scores were significantly related to religious class. Gender had a main effect although not a moderating effect: men had better body dissatisfaction than women did, and their religious class similarly affected their body dissatisfaction scores. Religiosity appears important for emerging adult men’s body dissatisfaction, like for emerging adult women.     

Investment in body image among patients diagnosed with or at risk for malignant melanoma

We examined investment in body image among 48 patients diagnosed with, or at risk for malignant melanoma (MM), as well as factors hypothesized as related to increased investment, such as gender, perceived stress, mood, fatigue, and personality characteristics. Investment in body image was evaluated using the Measure of Body Apperception [Carver, C. S., Pozo-Kaderman, C., Price, A. A., Noriega, V., Harris, S. D., Derhagopian, R. S., Robinson, D. S., & Moffat, F. L. Jr. (1998). Concern about aspects of body image and adjustment to early state breast cancer. Psychosomatic Medicine, 60, 168–174]. Results showed that women reported more concerns about physical appearance than men, and patients with MM exhibited more concerns about body integrity than at-risk patients. Concerns about body integrity were related to more compulsive personality characteristics, whereas concerns about appearance were associated with more histrionic personality characteristics. Body image investment was related to poorer adjustment as indicated by heightened symptoms of fatigue and stress. This study suggests that further research on investment in body image in this patient population is warranted.     

The relationship of hypercompetitiveness and gender roles with body dysmorphic disorder symptoms in a nonclinical sample

This study examined whether hypercompetitiveness was a moderator between body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptoms and gender roles in 345 college students. To test this, the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination-Self Report (BDDE-SR), the Hypercompetitive Attitude Scale, and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) were used. Significant positive correlations were found between BDD symptoms and hypercompetitiveness in men and women. For men and women, no significant correlation was found between female-valued items on the PAQ and the BDDE-SR. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between male-valued items on the PAQ and the BDDE-SR for both genders. Hypercompetitiveness, however, was found not to be a moderator between BDD symptoms and gender roles.     

Disordered Eating Attitudes and Self-Objectification Among Physically Active and Sedentary Female College Students

The authors' purpose in this study was to examine objectification theory (B. L. Fredrickson & T. A. Roberts, 1997) among physically active (n = 115) and sedentary (n = 70) women. The women completed the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998), the Body Surveillance and Body Shame subscales of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996), the Appearance Anxiety Scale (Dion, Dion, & J. Keelan, 1990), a flow experiences measure (Tiggemann & Slater, 2001), and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, & Garfinkel, 1982). Self-objectification directly and indirectly (via body shame and appearance anxiety) predicted disordered eating in both groups of women. Physically active women reported more frequent flow experiences than sedentary women. Women high in self-objectification reported higher levels of body surveillance, body shame, appearance anxiety, and self-reported disordered eating attitudes. Body surveillance was related to disordered eating only among women with high self-objectification. Appearance anxiety was negatively associated with flow experiences among sedentary women. Objectification theory provides a useful framework for understanding factors related to disordered eating attitudes among active and sedentary college women.