Replicated factor analysis of the Italian Version of the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire

A multisample factor analysis identified two different solutions, a 3-factor solution from the high school sample of 439 subjects and a 4-factor solution from both the university sample of 200 subjects and an obese sample of 142 subjects. However, in the first sample Factor 1 included the same items which formed Factor 2 and Factor 4 in both the second and the third samples. This suggests that the structure of the questionnaire can be adequately described by four different factors. The analysis of the factor loading also indicated that six items should be removed (Items 2, 3, 10, 11, 17, 19) from the Italian version.