Factor structure of the Italian version of the Body Satisfaction Scale: a multisample analysis

The paper describes the factorial structure of the Italian version of the Body Satisfaction Scale, a simple self-report questionnaire designed to assess satisfaction with 16 body parts. The results suggest that the structure of the questionnaire can be adequately represented by three different factors. Even if this solution is different from the one obtained in the original English samples, this interpretation was confirmed by a cross-validation on 806 subjects, a clinical sample and two normal samples. This result may be useful for the screening of subjects at risk for eating-disorders because it makes possible prediction of targeted areas of dissatisfaction which is not generally possible with other inventories. The analysis of the factor loadings also suggested that three items should be removed (teeth, eyes, and ears) from the Italian version.