Are the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire Scales stable or transient?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Mental Health Assessment

Background:

• Body image is crucial for mental health and intervention targets.
• Self-report is the common method for assessing body image.
• Assessing the stability and susceptibility of self-report items is important.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the test-retest stability of the Multidimensional Body Self-Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scales (MBSRQ-AS).
• To identify specific items and scales within the MBSRQ-AS that are unstable.
• To explore potential factors associated with instability in body image self-reports.

Main Methods:

• 99 participants (aged 18-30) completed the 34-item MBSRQ-AS twice, with a two-week interval.
• Stability was measured by test-retest differences, defining stable items as those with 90% of responses within ±1.
• Analyses focused on agreement rather than correlation to quantify stability.

Main Results:

• 29 out of 34 MBSRQ-AS items were identified as stable.
• Five items, including the entire "Appearance Evaluation" scale, were found to be unstable.
• The item "Most people would consider me good-looking" showed instability, particularly associated with gender and weight status; 44% of overweight participants showed instability compared to 10% of normal-weight participants.

Conclusions:

• The MBSRQ-AS contains unstable items, suggesting limitations in its current application for body image assessment.
• "Appearance Evaluation" scale instability highlights a need for refinement.
• Weight status appears linked to body image self-report instability, warranting further investigation into underlying psychological factors.