Development and validation of the Physical Appearance Related Teasing Scale

The development and preliminary validation of the Physical Appearance Related Testing Scale (PARTS) is reported. The 18-item scale has good psychometric qualities (high internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities) and consists of two factors: Weight/Size Testing (W/ST) and General Appearance Teasing (GAT). The W/ST converges well with measures of eating disturbance, body image dissatisfaction, social comparison, depression, and self-esteem, whereas the GAT scale shows little relationship to these variables. The role of teasing history as an etiological component of body image and eating disturbance is discussed; the need for further validation work on the PARTS is addressed.