ERIC Number: EJ991570
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jun
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-3590
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Examination of the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 in a Mixed-Gender Young-Adolescent Sample
Wilksch, Simon M.; Wade, Tracey D.
Psychological Assessment, v24 n2 p352-364 Jun 2012
Thin-ideal (or media) internalization is an important eating disorder risk factor that has become a central target of many prevention programs. However, evidence for its valid assessment in young, mixed-gender, adolescent samples is limited, and the current study is the first to explore the psychometric properties of the 30-item Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3; J. Thompson, P. van den Berg, M. Roehrig, A. S. Guarda, & L. J. Heinberg, 2004) in a nonadult community sample. Two samples of Grade 8 students (M age = 13.68 years), totaling 680 girls (N = 332) and boys (N = 348) completed the SATAQ-3 and other measures, whereas a smaller sample (N = 123) of Grade 10 girls (M age = 15.01 years) served as a comparison group for supplementary analyses. Principal component analyses (PCA) with data from Sample 1 (N = 201) revealed 4 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0, similar to the original authors' structure but with some cross-loading occurring between the Pressures and Internalization-General scales. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted with data from Sample 2 (N = 479) on the factor solution found in the PCA. The model did not fit well, leading to further revisions based on removal of cross-loading items and CFA modification indices, resulting in a 19-item, 4-factor solution with acceptable fit. Examinations of validity and reliability were generally acceptable. The overall findings suggest that an abbreviated version of the SATAQ-3 might be more appropriate than the original version with young-adolescent, mixed-gender audiences. Further examinations of the psychometric properties of the SATAQ-3 with this demographic are indicated. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)
Descriptors: Eating Disorders, Psychometrics, Factor Structure, Grade 8, At Risk Persons, Adolescents, Questionnaires, Test Validity, Grade 10, Secondary School Students, Factor Analysis, Goodness of Fit, Test Reliability, Human Body, Self Concept, Social Attitudes, Cultural Influences, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Eating Disorder Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A