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Updated: Apr 17, 2026
Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Validation of the Norwegian short version of the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-14)
Hilde Kapstad1, Megan Nelson2, Maria Øverås3
1a Hilde Kapstad, Regional Eating Disorders Service, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital , Norway.
Background:
The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) is a widely used self-report measure of body shape dissatisfaction.
Aims:
We aimed to establish psychometric properties and report normative data for the Norwegian 14-item BSQ in a clinical and non-clinical sample.
Methods:
A total of 423 female students, 267 male students and 49 female inpatients [anorexia nervosa (AN) and subthreshold AN] were administered the BSQ, the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ), and the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q).
Results:
On average, the male and female controls were aged (mean± standard deviation) 20.98 ± 5.68 years and 24.35 ± 9.89 years with mean body mass indexes (BMIs) of 23.34 ± 3.13 and 22.30 ± 3.62 kg/m(2), respectively. Patients were 19.04 ± 3.06 years with a mean BMI of 16.48 ± 1.81. Divergent validity was indicated by significantly (P < 0.001) different means between the patient group versus female controls, 56.80 ± 18.89 and 35.89 ± 15.19, respectively. Cronbach's alpha was satisfactory for all three groups (0.91-0.96), indicating excellent internal consistency. The BSQ correlated significantly (P < 0.001) with the BCQ and EDE-Q, indicating concurrent validity. BMI and BSQ scores did not correlate significantly within the population as a whole. However, when subdividing the sample, higher BMI was associated with higher BSQ scores among females and males within the non-clinical sample.
Conclusions:
Our study provides psychometric support for the Norwegian version of the BSQ-14 among a clinical and non-clinical sample of both young men and women.
