Body vigilance: bi-national examination of the construct

Abstract

Two inter-related studies evaluated the measurement model and construct validity of body vigilance, as indexed by the body vigilance scale [BVS; Schmidt et al., 1997: J Consulting Clin Psychol 65:214-220]. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and convergent, discriminant, and incremental tests of validity of body vigilance were conducted among separate nonclinical samples from the United States (US) (study 1) and Spain (study 2). In both the US and Spanish samples, poor fit for the four-item unidimensional measurement model of body vigilance was observed; good fit, however, was found for a unidimensional, three-item measurement model. Subsequent analyses demonstrated both theoretically predicted as well as a number of unexpected associations between body vigilance and a variety of theoretically relevant external criterion variables. Results are discussed in terms of their clinical implications for advancing assessment of body vigilance and theoretical implications for better understanding the nomological nature of the construct.