Internal validity, dimensionality and performance of the Body Shape Questionnaire in a group of Brazilian college students.
OBJECTIVE
To adapt the Body Shape Questionnaire for use in the Brazilian population; to study the internal validity and the dimensionality of the scale when used in a non- clinical Brazilian population.


METHODS
A cross- sectional study was accomplished comprising 164 students in the first 3 years of the School of Medicine conveniently selected at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo. The 34- item Body Shape Questionnaire version and a questionnaire to assess demographic and anthropometric information were used.


RESULTS
The internal consistency of the Body Shape Questionnaire measured by Cronbach's alpha was 0.97, indicating that the questions of the scale converge to the same construct. The factor analysis of the scale resulted in a four- dimension solution accounting for 66.4% of the total data variability. Regarding the final score of Body Shape Questionnaire, the mean score was 58.7 +/- 25.1 for men and 89.7 +/- 31.3 for women.


CONCLUSIONS
We found statistically significant gender differences in the means of the Body Shape Questionnaire scores. Women showed higher dissatisfaction than did men as to their appearance as measured by the Body Shape Questionnaire. The adapted version of the scale seems to maintain the characteristics of the original scale.
Di Pietro
Monica
M
Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. monicapietro@uol.com.br
Silveira
Dartiu Xavier da
DX
D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating; D014177:Translations; D055815:Young Adult