Measuring body satisfaction in women with eating disorders and healthy women: appearance-related and functional components in the Body Cathexis Scale (Dutch version)

Abstract

Purpose Differentiating the concept of body satisfaction, especially the functional component, is important in clinical and research context. The aim of the present study is to contribute to further refinement of the concept by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Body Cathexis Scale (BCS). Differences in body satisfaction between clinical and non-clinical respondents are also explored. Method Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to investigate whether functional body satisfaction can be distinguished as a separate factor, using data from 238 adult female patients from a clinical sample and 1060 women from two non-clinical samples in the Netherlands. Univariate tests were used to identify differences between non-clinical and clinical samples. Results EFA identified functionality as one of three factors, which was confirmed by CFA. CFA showed the best fit for a three-factor model, where functionality, non-weight, and weight were identified as separate factors in both populations. Internal consistency was good and correlations between factors were low. Women in the non-clinical sample scored significantly higher on the BCS than women with eating disorders on all three subscales, with high effect sizes. Conclusions The three factors of the BCS may be used as subscales, enabling researchers and practitioners to use one scale to measure different aspects of body satisfaction, including body functionality. Use of the BCS may help to achieve a more complete understanding of how people evaluate body satisfaction and contribute to further research on the effectiveness of interventions focussing on body functionality. Level of evidence Cross-sectional descriptive study, Level V.

The Functionality Appreciation Scale (FAS): psychometric properties and results of the Dutch version in a community sample and a sample of women with eating disorders

“…The construct and concurrent validity of the original scale are good [18,32] Research on the Dutch version of the BCS in both an ED (n = 238) and a community (n = 1060) sample revealed three subscales: functional body satisfaction, weight related body satisfaction and non-weight related body satisfaction [1]). Internal consistency was good in both samples with Cronbach's α = .90 for the total scale and Cronbach's α = .83 − .85 for the subscales in the clinical sample [15].…”

“…As a second goal, we will explore differences in body functionality measured with the FAS between the community and the ED sample. In line with the study by Rekkers et al [15] in which data on the functionality scale of the BCS was used, it is hypothesized that the FAS will reveal a signi cantly lower functional body satisfaction in people with EDs compared to respondents from a community sample.…”

“…In a sample of Australian adolescents, the EIS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. Recently, Rekkers et al [15] described functional body satisfaction as a separate factor in the Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) [16] in both a non-clinical sample and a clinical ED sample. The BCS measures the degree of satisfaction with both appearance and functionality of different parts of the body and has been proven a valid and reliable questionnaire in various studies [17][18][19][20].…”

“…We expect, based on prior research, that the Dutch translation of the FAS [29] will demonstrate a one-dimensional factor structure in both exploratory and con rmatory factor analyses. Evidence of convergent construct validity will be established through positive associations with body satisfaction, measured with the Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) [15], especially with the subscale Functionality of the BCS, because this subscale also measures body functionality. Furthermore, we will examine discriminant construct validity.…”

Shifting the Focus: A Pilot Study on the Effects of Positive Body Exposure on Body Satisfaction, Body Attitude, Eating Pathology and Depressive Symptoms in Female Patients with Eating Disorders

“…The construct and concurrent validity of the original scale is good [ 46 , 47 , 48 ]. Research on the Dutch version of the BCS in both clinical ( n = 238) and non-clinical ( n = 1060) samples revealed three subscales: functional body satisfaction, weight-related body satisfaction and non-weight-related body satisfaction [ 49 ]. Internal consistency was adequate for both samples, with Cronbach’s α = 0.90 for the total scale and Cronbach’s α = 0.83–0.85 for the subscales in the clinical sample [ 49 ].…”