title: Construct validity of a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Figure rating scales were developed as a tool to determine body dissatisfaction in women, men, and children. However, it lacks in the literature the validation of the scale for body silhouettes previously adapted. We aimed to obtain evidence for construct validity of a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was carried out with adolescent students attending three public schools in an urban region of the municipality of Florianopolis in the State of Santa Catarina (SC). The sample comprised 232 10-19-year-old students, 106 of whom are boys and 126 girls, from the 5th "series" (i.e. year) of Primary School to the 3rd year of Secondary School. Data-gathering involved the application of an instrument containing 8 body figure drawings representing a range of children's and adolescents' body shapes, ranging from very slim (contour 1) to obese (contour 8). Weights and heights were also collected, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated later. BMI was analyzed as a continuous variable, using z-scores, and as a dichotomous categorical variable, representing a diagnosis of nutritional status (normal and overweight including obesity).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that both males and females with larger BMI z-scores chose larger body contours. Girls with higher BMI z-scores also show higher values of body image dissatisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We provided the first evidence of validity for a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Saúde da Coletividade, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Av, Príncipe de Gales, 821, 09060650, Santo André, SP, Brazil. adamifernando@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: Deivis Elton
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Schlickmann Frainer
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Souza Almeida
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: de Abreu
authors.forename: Vitor E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Valenti
authors.forename: Marcelo Marcos
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Piva Demarzo
authors.forename: Carlos Bandeira de
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Mello Monteiro
authors.forename: Fernando R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity; D012574:Schools; D013334:Students