Psychometric Properties and Validation of Body Appreciation Scale (BAS)

Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to assess the psychometric properties of BAS-2 among university students in Urmia, Iran. Methods: This is a descriptive-exploratory study that specifically aims at validating tests. The current research goes under the rubric of standardization studies. The study population consists of university students in Urmia in the academic year of 2014 - 2015 and after providing the Persian version of the target scale using translation and back translation, the approved version of the BAS-2 as well as multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire, body dysmorphic metacognitive questionnaire, and Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (modified for body dysmorphic disorder) administered to 400 university students in Urmia have been selected through quota sampling. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, face, content, construct and convergent validity, Cronbach’s alpha, and split-half reliability with SPSS and AMOS Graphics softwares. Results: The results indicated that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and split-half reliability were 0.87 and 0.83, respectively. The face, content, construct, and convergent validity of the BAS-2 were confirmed to be in consistent with other instruments. The results of CFA to obtain the construct validity indicated that every 10 items showed high factor loading with the total score. BAS-2 scale has an acceptable validity and reliability and is applicable to research and clinical settings in Iranian context. Conclusions: It can be concluded that BAS-2 is a psychometrically sound positive body image measure.