The relationship between body mass index and food preoccupation in women: A moderated mediation of body-related self-conscious emotions and self-esteem.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals who are preoccupied with food are more likely to develop maladaptive eating behaviours and eating disorders. Thus, it is advisable to investigate the factors that increase vulnerability to food preoccupation (FP) to prevent its harmful impact on physical and mental health. Our objective in this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and FP in Polish women (N = 407) and examine a possible pathway through body-related shame and body-related guilt and self-esteem. METHOD: Participants completed an abbreviated version of the Eating Attitudes Test-26, the Body and Appearance Self-Conscious Emotions Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. RESULTS: The findings demonstrated a positive indirect effect of BMI on FP through body-related shame and body-related guilt. However, this effect was moderated by self-esteem only for body-related shame; namely, in women with a low or average level of self-esteem, higher BMI was related to higher body-related shame, which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of FP. These associations were not observed in women with a high level of self-esteem. DISCUSSION: Body-related shame may help explain the relationship between BMI and FP. Moreover, self-esteem serves as a protective factor against body-related shame related to higher BMI and, as a result, against FP.

Body and appearance self-conscious emotions in Canada and Poland.

Due to the growing interest in studies on health-related variables from an international perspective, the current study addresses the issue of body-related emotions in two countries from two continents, namely, North America and Europe. Using data from Canadian and Polish samples, we investigated the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Body and Appearance Self-Conscious Emotions Scale across countries and examined differences in these emotions between Canada and Poland. Partial scalar invariance indicated that the scale functions equivalently in Canadian and Polish samples, with only one invariant item in the Guilt subscale. Compared to the Polish, Canadians reported lower body and appearance authentic and hubristic pride. Participants from the two countries did not differ significantly in shame.

Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 across five countries.

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a, 2015b) is a widely used measure of positive body image within many cultures and countries; yet, cross-cultural examinations are few. The present study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across adults from five countries: Iran, Japan, Poland, Serbia, and the U.S. The sample included 2944 participants ranging in age from 18 to 82 years. The findings provided evidence that the BAS-2's one-dimensional structure is the same in these countries. Partial metric invariance (when some but not all items contribute to a latent construct equally for groups) indicated that nine out of 10 items contributed to the latent body appreciation construct to a similar degree across the countries. When a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model was applied with participants' age and gender as covariates, evidence of differential item functioning was found. Results suggest that both age and gender influenced body appreciation, indicating that the body appreciation factor means are different at different levels of the covariates. In conclusion, cross-culturally body appreciation may be shaped by country, language, age, and gender correlates to different degrees. In future research, measurement invariance analyses should be conducted prior to cultural group comparisons on the BAS-2.

Body appreciation and body-related pride in normal-weight and overweight/obese individuals: Does romantic relationship matter?

PURPOSE: The study investigated body appreciation and body-related pride in normal-weight and overweight/obese individuals. A question of whether romantic relationship differentiates body image in these groups was also asked. DESIGN AND METHODS: Measures of body appreciation, body-related pride, self-esteem, and positive affect were administered in a sample of 344 subjects. FINDINGS: Participants with normal weight reported higher body appreciation and body-related pride. The analysis revealed that there were no differences in body image between normal-weight and overweight/obese individuals who were in a romantic relationship. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The study provides a better understanding of factors related to an individual's body image.

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2.

This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and psychometric properties of a Polish version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015). Data were collected from 721 individuals residing in various regions of Poland. There were two subsamples (n=336, age M=34.95, SD=10.83; and n=385, age M=35.38, SD=10.83). Both principal-axis and confirmatory factor analyses supported the one-dimensional structure of BAS-2 scores. Moreover, full scalar invariance of the BAS-2 in Poland across sex was demonstrated. Scores on the Polish BAS-2 had adequate internal consistency. Convergent validity was demonstrated through significant correlations between BAS-2 scores and variables related to body image (body and appearance self-conscious emotions), well-being (self-esteem, positive affect, and positive orientation), and body mass index. These results indicate that the Polish BAS-2 is an appropriate and psychometrically-sound measure of body appreciation.

Body representation in patients after vascular brain injuries.

Neuropsychological literature suggests that body representation is a multidimensional concept consisting of various types of representations. Previous studies have demonstrated dissociations between three types of body representation specified by the kind of data and processes, i.e. body schema, body structural description, and body semantics. The aim of the study was to describe the state of body representation in patients after vascular brain injuries and to provide evidence for the different types of body representation. The question about correlations between body representation deficits and neuropsychological dysfunctions was also investigated. Fifty patients after strokes and 50 control individuals participated in the study. They were examined with tasks referring to dynamic representation of body parts positions, topological body map, and lexical and semantic knowledge about the body. Data analysis showed that vascular brain injuries result in deficits of body representation, which may co-occur with cognitive dysfunctions, but the latter are a possible risk factor for body representation deficits rather than sufficient or imperative requisites for them. The study suggests that types of body representation may be separated on the basis not only of their content, but also of their relation with self. Principal component analysis revealed three factors, which explained over 66% of results variance. The factors, which may be interpreted as types or dimensions of mental model of a body, represent different degrees of connection with self. The results indicate another possibility of body representation types classification, which should be verified in future research.