The Psychometric Properties of Body Shape Questionnaire C8 in Women With Eating Disorders

Objectives Extreme concern about body shape is the main feature of eating disorders. Eating disorders co-occur with several medical and mental disorders. So a valid and reliable tool will help prevent this disorder and its consequence. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine psychometric properties of the Body Shape Questionnaire C8 (BSQ-C8) in a sample of women with eating disorders.
Methods The main tool of this cross-validation study, i.e. BSQ-C8, was translated to Persian. Then psychometric properties of the scale were studied in a sample of women with eating disorders who were selected by convenient sampling method. Data collecting tools were BSQ-C8, BSQ-34, Body Dysmorphic Meta Cognition Questionnaire (BDMCQ), and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (YBOCS–BDD). To analyze data by SPSS version 16, correlation coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, split half coefficient, and ROC curve were used.
Results In the sample of women with eating disorders the coefficients of Cronbach's alpha and split-half were 0.79 and 0.74, respectively. Concurrent validity by way of correlation between the scale and BSQ-34, YBOCS–BDD, and BDMCQ were 0.91, 0.59 and 0.58, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, and the cut point of this questionnaire were 0.80, 0.67 and 26.5, respectively.
Conclusion BSQ-C8 for assessing body shape dissatisfaction in women with eating disorders has high reliability and good concurrent validity and it is useful for assessing body shape dissatisfaction in clinical and non-clinical research.