The impact of gender on the assessment of body checking behavior

Abstract

Body checking includes any behavior aimed at global or specific evaluations of appearance characteristics. Men and women are believed to express these behaviors differently, possibly reflecting different socialization. However, there has been no empirical test of the impact of gender on body checking. A total of 1024 male and female college students completed two measures of body checking, the Body Checking Questionnaire and the Male Body Checking Questionnaire. Using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, differential item functioning (DIF) was explored in a composite of these measures. Two global latent factors were identified (female and male body checking severity), and there were expected gender differences in these factors even after controlling for DIF. Ten items were found to be unbiased by gender and provide a suitable brief measure of body checking for mixed gender research. Practical applications for body checking assessment and theoretical implications are discussed.

Checagem corporal, atitude alimentar inadequada e insatisfação com a imagem corporal de jovens universitários

“…Alfano et al 12 sugerem o uso de instrumentos específicos para cada sexo (BCQ -mulheres; MBCQ -homens) por causa das idiossincrasias encontradas quanto à expectativa de corpo e rituais de autoavaliação dele. Esta pesquisa teve esse cuidado metodológico ao utilizar instrumentos específicos e identificou maior frequência de checagem entre as mulheres, o que reforça o fato de estas apresentarem comportamento mais frequente de autoavaliação do corpo, geralmente acompanhado de insatisfação corporal, quando comparadas aos homens 12 .…”

“…Ações no sentido de diminuição desse comportamento em pacientes com transtornos alimentares têm sido frequentes 9,10 e são apontadas como alternativa de intervenção para o distúrbio de imagem corporal 8 . O comportamento de checagem corporal também está presente na população não clínica 11,12 . Os resultados apontam para uma influência direta da checagem corporal na atenção seletiva do indivíduo para o seu corpo, com aumento da insatisfação sobre ele 11 .…”

Body-checking and its association with nutritional status in young adults

“…Meanwhile, moderate body-checking was present in 22.43% and 14.43% of females and males, respectively. By using the same instruments applied in this research (BCQ and MBCQ), Alfano et al 15 identified significant differences in the frequency of body-checking behavior between genders. University female students showed higher frequency of body-checking behavior than males.…”

“…Body-checking behavior is related to the adoption of inappropriate eating behaviors, which is known to be harmful to health, such as extreme food restriction [12][13][14][15][16] . Patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa demonstrate a higher frequency of this behavior than a non-clinical population [12][13][14] .…”

“…Such behaviors are used as a source of information about the success or failure in controlling body weight and shape, and its frequency is associated with body dissatisfaction, purging behaviors and restrictive diets [12][13][14][15][16] .…”