Body Compassion Scale

Abstract

Abstract. Background: In recent years, body image research has focused on the aspects of positive body image ( Smolak & Cash, 2011 ). This represents an important change in this area from a primary focus on negative body image to a comprehensive exploration of the body image concept. Aims: Validation of measures to help understand the positive and healthy characteristics of body image is therefore particularly important. The Body Compassion Scale (BCS; Altman, Linfield, et al., 2017 ) is a self-report scale aimed at measuring how compassionate one feels toward one’s own body. This study is a validation of BCS to confirm its factor structure and to assess its reliability and validity. Method: The 23-item scale was translated into Italian and presented to a sample of 695 Italian women. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the factor structure of the Italian version of the BCS. Results: Results were largely comparable to those obtained for the original English version of the BCS. The three-factor structure was largely replicated and expected associations with body dissatisfaction, psychological inflexibility, and psychological well-being were found. Limitations: BCS reliability was assessed only in terms of internal consistency; a longitudinal research design could be useful to assess the test-retest reliability. It would also be important for future research to study body compassion in different populations. Conclusion: This scale could be a useful measure for structured psychological interventions aimed at promoting a positive body image, but also in empirical research to obtain information on how individuals relate to their bodies.

The Power of Words: Appearance Comments from One’s Partner Can Affect Men’s Body Image and Women’s Couple Relationship

“…Body compassion: Body compassion was measured through the Italian version [52] of the Body Compassion Scale (BCS) [30], which is composed of 23 items with a 5-point Likert-type response format (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always). The Italian version of the BCS proved to be valid and reliable with both women [52] and men [53], for whom the factor structure of the scale was exactly the same.…”

“…Body compassion: Body compassion was measured through the Italian version [52] of the Body Compassion Scale (BCS) [30], which is composed of 23 items with a 5-point Likert-type response format (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always). The Italian version of the BCS proved to be valid and reliable with both women [52] and men [53], for whom the factor structure of the scale was exactly the same. The BCS is composed of three subscales: Defusion (9 items, e.g., "When I am feeling physically uncomfortable, I tend to obsess and fixate on everything that is wrong") to assess an attitude of decentering rather than emphasizing over-identification with one's body inadequacies and failure; Common Humanity (9 items, e.g., "When I feel my body is inadequate in some way, I try to remind myself that feelings of inadequacy are shared by most people") to measure the recognition of interconnectedness between people given by life experience through the physical interface of the body; and Acceptance (5 items, e.g., "I am tolerant of my body's flaws and inadequacies") to assess non-judgmental acceptance of appearance, state of health, and the function of one's body as it is in the present.…”

A validation of the body compassion scale in females

“…Higher scores on the BCS indicate higher levels of body compassion. The BCS has sound convergent validity with other measures (Policardo et al, 2022), and has also demonstrated excellent internal consistency in prior studies (Altman et al, 2020;Policardo et al, 2022).…”

“…Additionally, Altman et al (2020) initial development of the BCS investigated its utility in a limited participant sample of university students with a young mean age (20.24 years). The Policardo et al (2022) study also utilised a young sample range…”

My Exposed Body: Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Social Physique Anxiety Scale-7 among Women

“…Body Compassion. The Italian version [ 33 ] of the Body Compassion Scale (BCS) was used to assess compassion towards one’s body. The scale has 23 items (e.g., “I am accepting of my looks just the way they are”) rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = almost never; 5 = almost always).…”