Investigação psicométrica do Physical Activity Body Experiences Questionaire (PABEQ) e da Physical Appearance Comparison Scale–3 (PACS-3) para jovens universitários no Brasil

Abstract

Introduction: Body image is the mental representation of one's own body. University students have been considered groups at risk for developing changes related to body image, and using appropriate instruments to assess this construct in the Brazilian context is of fundamental importance. Objective: To perform the cross-cultural adaptation and verify the psychometric qualities of the Physical Activity Body Experiences Questionaire (PABEQ) and the Physical Appearance Comparison Scale–3 (PACS-3) for Brazilian university students. Methodology: The research was divided

into two distinct stages: cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric assessment. Forty- five university students (X=23.13 years; SD: +/- 2.8 years) participated in the first stage,

and 1,610 university students (X = 22.69 years; SD: +/- 3.12 years) of the five Brazilian regions, from public and private universities. Data collection was carried out online, in order to assess the content validity indices, construct validity and reliability of the instruments. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Spearman's correlation test and Cronbach's alpha were used. The collection instruments were PABEQ; PACS-3; The Body Appreciation Scale (BAS); The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale–4 (SATAQ–4); The Rosenberg Self-Steem Scale (RSES) and sociodemographic questionnaire. SPSS (version 20.0) and LISREL® (Version 8.8) programs were used. Results: Semantic, idiomatic and cultural adjustments to acquire content validity were performed. The factorial structure of the instruments remained the same as the original, with the PABEQ being composed of 10 items, subdivided into 2 factors (Body Appreciation and Body/Mind Connection) and the PACS-3 composed of 27 items, subdivided into 3 factors (Frequency, Direction and Effect). High indices of X2/GL and the RMSEA were found, while the other statistical indices were adequate. Regarding convergent validity, the scales also showed a significant association with other instruments available in the literature, also used in this study, ranging from moderate to strong. Conclusion: This research presents the psychometric results of the PABEQ and PACS-3 scales for Brazilian university students. Most of the psychometric indicators analyzed are within what is recommended in the literature. However, the X2 / GL and RMSEA indicators showed unsatisfactory results, justified by the sample size. Given that these values are not used in isolation, it is noteworthy that both the PABEQ and the PACS-3 present evidence of validity and reliability for research carried out in Brazil, specifically in investigations on body image of young university students, both for collection data in person and online.