TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Appearance Anxiety Scale
T2 - a psychometric investigation and evaluation of the influence of individual characteristics on social appearance anxiety in Brazilian adults who practice physical exercise
AU - Donofre, Giovanna Soler
AU - Campos, Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini
AU - dos Santos, Priscila Carvalho
AU - Marôco, João
AU - Campos, Lucas Arrais
AU - da Silva, Wanderson Roberto
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Donofre, Campos, dos Santos, Marôco, Campos and da Silva.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Introduction: Evaluating signs of anxiety related to body appearance is becoming increasingly important in contemporary society and, in this sense, the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) seems an interesting alternative of measurement. Objectives: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the SAAS when applied to Brazilian adults who practice physical exercise and verify the influence of individual characteristics on participants’ social appearance anxiety. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted online. The participants completed the SAAS and a demographic questionnaire. The psychometric properties of the SAAS one-factor model were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. A structural model was built for men and women to verify the influence of individual characteristics of the participants on social appearance anxiety. Results: 1,495 individuals participated in the study (70.8% women; mean age = 29.5, SD = 8.9 years). The data obtained with the SAAS presented good indicators of validity and reliability for both genders (CFI > 0.97, TLI > 0.97, SRMR = 0.04, α > 0.97, ω > 0.85). For both men and women, greater levels of social appearance anxiety were observed among younger participants, who had a higher body mass index, self-reported an eating disorder, and perceived a change in their body after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For women specifically, higher income and having started physical exercise more recently were associated with greater levels of social appearance anxiety. Conclusion: The findings supported the validity and reliability of the data obtained with the SAAS and revealed that when investigating social appearance anxiety in future research and clinical protocols, specific individual characteristics should be considered.
AB - Introduction: Evaluating signs of anxiety related to body appearance is becoming increasingly important in contemporary society and, in this sense, the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) seems an interesting alternative of measurement. Objectives: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the SAAS when applied to Brazilian adults who practice physical exercise and verify the influence of individual characteristics on participants’ social appearance anxiety. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted online. The participants completed the SAAS and a demographic questionnaire. The psychometric properties of the SAAS one-factor model were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. A structural model was built for men and women to verify the influence of individual characteristics of the participants on social appearance anxiety. Results: 1,495 individuals participated in the study (70.8% women; mean age = 29.5, SD = 8.9 years). The data obtained with the SAAS presented good indicators of validity and reliability for both genders (CFI > 0.97, TLI > 0.97, SRMR = 0.04, α > 0.97, ω > 0.85). For both men and women, greater levels of social appearance anxiety were observed among younger participants, who had a higher body mass index, self-reported an eating disorder, and perceived a change in their body after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For women specifically, higher income and having started physical exercise more recently were associated with greater levels of social appearance anxiety. Conclusion: The findings supported the validity and reliability of the data obtained with the SAAS and revealed that when investigating social appearance anxiety in future research and clinical protocols, specific individual characteristics should be considered.
KW - anxiety
KW - physical appearance
KW - population characteristics
KW - structural equation modeling
KW - validation study
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1261605
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1261605
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85179738085
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 1261605
ER -