The development and validation of the body shape questionnaire

TLDR

Body‑shape concerns are widespread among young women in Western societies and are a core feature of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, yet no satisfactory measurement tool existed. The authors developed the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) to assess these concerns and to facilitate research on their role in the onset, persistence, and treatment of eating disorders. Items were generated from semistructured interviews with diverse women, including patients, and the BSQ was administered to three community samples and a bulimia patient group. The BSQ demonstrated strong concurrent and discriminant validity.

Abstract

Concerns about body shape are common among young women in Western cultures, and, in an extreme form, they constitute a central feature of the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. To date there has been no satisfactory measure of such concerns. A self-report instrument, the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) has therefore been developed. The items that constitute this measure were derived by conducting semistructured interviews with various groups of women including patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The BSQ has been administered to three samples of young women in the community as well as to a group of patients with bulimia nervosa. The concurrent and discriminant validity of the measure have been shown to be good. The BSQ provides a means of investigating the role of concerns about body shape in the development, maintenance, and treatment of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.