A psychometric investigation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4-Revised among sexual minority adults in the U.S.

Abstract

The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 Revised (SATAQ-4R) is a measure of internalization (or belief and acceptance) of muscular, thin/low body fat, and general attractiveness ideals; and of sociocultural pressures experienced from family, peers, media, and significant others to achieve the ideal body. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the SATAQ-4R scores in a sample of sexual minority (non-heterosexual) men and women. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the factor structure in men (n = 479) and women (n = 482). The original 7-factor structure was replicated, and internal reliability coefficients for the seven subscale scores were acceptable (≥ .82 α and ω). For men and women, the thin/low body fat, family, peers, media, and significant others subscales exhibited significant positive medium-to-large associations with subscale scores on the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q), measuring aspects of eating pathology. The muscular ideal subscale exhibited a significant large correlation with the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS), measuring muscularity-related concerns. Both the muscular ideal and general attractiveness ideal subscale exhibited significant small or non-significant correlations with eating pathology. In sum, the SATAQ-4R scores demonstrated acceptable reliability and structural and convergent validity in samples of sexual minority men and women.