Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adolescents' body image concerns are related to their mental and physical health. Reliable instruments are fundamental to understanding body image concerns, but there are some concerns about the adolescent body image instruments currently used in China. One of the obvious concerns is the inadequate psychometric properties of the extant Chinese translations of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), such as the lack of evaluation of factorial validity and construct validity. BESAA is an instrument that encompasses partly positive body image and partly negative body image, and the broad conceptualization of appearance is considered one of its unique values. The main purpose of this study was to translate the BESAA into Chinese and to preliminarily evaluate its reliability and validity in a sample of Chinese adolescents. METHODS: A total of 1368 adolescents (age: mean = 14.94, standard deviation = 2.08; 70.18% females, 29.82% males) were recruited through a convenience sampling method. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM), test-retest reliability, convergent validity, measurement invariance, and McDonald's Omega were used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the BESAA. The total sample was used for the item analysis, convergent validity, and reliability. The total sample was randomly divided into two equal-sized subsamples; Sample 1 (n = 684; girls n = 459, boys n = 225) was used for the EFA, while Sample 2 (n = 684; girls n = 501, boys n = 183) was used for the CFA, the ESEM, and the measurement invariance. RESULTS: A three-factor, 15-item model was obtained through EFA. The model showed satisfactory goodness of fit in terms of both CFA and ESEM (χ(2) = 172.071, df = 63, χ(2)/df = 2.73 (p < 0.001), Comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.972, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.953, Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.050, and Standardized root mean residual (SRMR) = 0.024). The Chinese version of the BESAA demonstrated good internal consistency (McDonald's Omega: 0.881), and its convergent validity is supported. CONCLUSION: The current findings provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the BESAA, and support the use of the BESAA among Chinese adolescents.