Propiedades psicométricas de una Escala Breve de Evaluación de la Insatisfacción Corporal infantil = Psychometric properties of a Brief Scale for the Assessment of Children Body Dissatisfaction

Abstract

Introduction. The assessment of body image and body dissatisfaction has become a main aim in psychological research because of its strong links with the study of the etiology and definition of eating disorders. However, there are few children assessment instruments adapted to the Spanish population. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a pilot study on the design and evaluation of a new instrument for Spanish children called Escala Breve de Insatisfacción Corporal Infantil (EBICI) [The Children Body Dissatisfaction Brief Scale]. Method. The EBICI, a Likert scale, was designed and administered to a sample of 62 children from two Primary Schools whose mean age was 11.53 (SD = .73). Likewise, They provided their Self-reported Body Mass Index (BMI) and filled in the Children's Body Image Scale (CBIS) used to study the validity of the EBICI. Results. According to the discriminant analysis no item was considered to be removed. The reliability analysis yielded an adequate Cronbach's alpha (.738). The concurrent validity analysis yielded statistically significant correlations with the Self-reported BMI (.250, p < .05) and the CBIS (.497, p < .01). Conclusions. The EBCIN scale could be a suitable instrument for a rapid assessment of body dissatisfaction in Spanish children at the expense of further studies using larger samples from a wider range of locations.