TY - JOUR
T1 - Revising the Body Esteem Scale with a U.S. College Student Sample
T2 - Evaluation, Validation, and Uses for the BES-R
AU - Frost, Katherine A.
AU - Franzoi, Stephen L.
AU - Oswald, Debra L.
AU - Shields, Stephanie A.
N1 - Funding Information:
These authors would like to address compliance with ethical standards regarding this research. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - The Body Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi and Shields 1984) has been a primary research tool for over 30 years, yet its factor structure has not been fully assessed since its creation, so a two-study design examined whether the BES needed revision. In Study 1, a series of principal components analyses (PCAs) was conducted using the BES responses of 798 undergraduate students, with results indicating that changes were necessary to improve the scale’s accuracy. In Study 2, 1237 undergraduate students evaluated each BES item, along with a select set of new body items, while also rating each item’s importance to their own body esteem. Body items meeting minimum importance criteria were then utilized in a series of PCAs to develop a revised scale that has strong internal consistency and good convergent and discriminant validity. As with the original BES, the revised BES (BES-R) conceives of body esteem as both gender-specific and multidimensional. Given that the accurate assessment of body esteem is essential in better understanding the link between this construct and mental health, the BES-R can now be used in research to illuminate this link, as well as in prevention and treatment programs for body-image issues. Further implications are discussed.
AB - The Body Esteem Scale (BES; Franzoi and Shields 1984) has been a primary research tool for over 30 years, yet its factor structure has not been fully assessed since its creation, so a two-study design examined whether the BES needed revision. In Study 1, a series of principal components analyses (PCAs) was conducted using the BES responses of 798 undergraduate students, with results indicating that changes were necessary to improve the scale’s accuracy. In Study 2, 1237 undergraduate students evaluated each BES item, along with a select set of new body items, while also rating each item’s importance to their own body esteem. Body items meeting minimum importance criteria were then utilized in a series of PCAs to develop a revised scale that has strong internal consistency and good convergent and discriminant validity. As with the original BES, the revised BES (BES-R) conceives of body esteem as both gender-specific and multidimensional. Given that the accurate assessment of body esteem is essential in better understanding the link between this construct and mental health, the BES-R can now be used in research to illuminate this link, as well as in prevention and treatment programs for body-image issues. Further implications are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11199-017-0776-5
DO - 10.1007/s11199-017-0776-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85017598034
SN - 0360-0025
VL - 78
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
JF - Sex Roles: A Journal of Research
IS - 1-2
ER -