The Positive Body Image among Adolescents Scale (PBIAS): Conceptualization, development, and psychometric evaluation among adolescents from Belgium

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to offer a conceptualization of positive body image during adolescence and psychometrically examine a new scale developed to measure this conceptualization. A literature review on positive body image and adolescence was conducted, which shaped the development of the Positive Body Image among Adolescents Scale (PBIAS). In Study 1, four focus groups (totaling 14 adolescents) from Belgium explored the content, clarity, and applicability of the PBIAS items. In Study 2, an exploratory factor analysis (N = 565; Mage = 14.9, 63.8% girls) revealed 4 factors: body self-appreciation, body other-appreciation, resilience against media body ideals, and resilience against negative appearance feedback. This 4-factor structure was confirmed in Study 3 (N = 718; Mage = 15.2, 50.4% girls), and gender invariance was upheld. The test-retest reliability of the PBIAS scores was partially supported in Study 4 (N = 309, Mage = 15.3, 66.3% girls). Across studies, internal consistency was supported and construct validity (convergent and incremental) evidence was garnered. Further, the PBIAS was translated from Dutch to English to offer researchers an option for collecting data in English-speaking countries. Overall, the PBIAS is a brief measure with psychometric support that assesses four dimensions of adolescent positive body image.

Exploring factors associated with student wellbeing in the United Arab Emirates: PISA 2018

“…Good health, having enough energy to get things done the day before, and being happy with one's body were consistent contributors to wellbeing, with negative affect and mental health difficulties being negatively affected. This supports prior studies on body image (Baker et al, 2019;Maes et al, 2021;Swami et al, 2018;Urke et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2019). Policymakers may implement an effective national health promotion agenda that targets national health concerns affecting adolescents and offers practical initiatives to remediate obesity, sleep, physical inactivity, body image and mental health issues, etc.…”

“…In the area of health and body image, young people with better self-reported health tend to report higher LS (Berkelbach van der Sprenkel et al, 2022;Hodacova et al, 2017) and associations between adolescent wellbeing, physical health and health-related behaviours have been identified (Currie et al, 2012;Inchley et al, 2020). Meanwhile, having a positive image of one's body is correlated with psychological and social wellbeing, LS, self-esteem and fewer symptoms of depression (Maes et al, 2021;Urke et al, 2021).…”

Physically distant, virtually close: Adolescents’ sexting behaviors during a strict lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…It may be possible that early adolescents felt a higher need to accept their bodies because their bodies are less likely to reflect the idealized and, hence, more mature influencer bodies on social media. Also, adolescents with an early developmental status still have to develop the cognitive skills to rationalize and to cope with their body changes and ideal bodies in social media ( Maes et al, 2021 ). This makes them vulnerable for the promotion of ideal bodies and, presumably, explains a higher need for body acceptance, to which they responded via visual sexting.…”

Positive Youth Development and Mental Well-Being in Late Adolescence: The Role of Body Appreciation. Findings From a Prospective Study in Norway

“…Most of these studies were, however, conducted with United States college samples (Gillen, 2015), or other adult samples (Homan and Tylka, 2015;Davis et al, 2020). Since 2017, we identified four studies which have thoroughly validated the body appreciation scale among adolescents in countries in Europe and Asia (Lemoine et al, 2018;Baceviciene and Jankauskiene, 2020;Razmus et al, 2020;Maes et al, 2021). One of these have examined the association between body appreciation and wellbeing (Lemoine et al, 2018), among adolescents, 12 to 19 years of age, in Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden.…”