Measurement invariance of the appearance schemas inventory-revised and the body image quality of life inventory across age and gender

The majority of body image measures have largely been developed with younger female samples. Before these measures can be applied to men, and to middle-aged and older women, and used to make gender and age comparisons, they must exhibit adequate cross-group measurement invariance. This study examined the age and gender cross-group measurement invariance of the Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised (ASI-R) and the Body Image Quality of Life Inventory (BIQLI), with a sample of 1,262 adults (422 men and 840 women) aged 18 to 98 years. For the ASI-R, all groups met requirements for configural and metric invariance. Scalar invariance was found only for the three age groups, which indicated that mean comparisons may be conducted across gender for young, middle-aged, and older adults but should not be conducted across age groups within either gender. Results for the BIQLI indicated that observed mean comparisons may be conducted across all age and gender groups.