Author:

Keywords:

Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Psychology, Clinical, Psychiatry, Psychology, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, psychometrics, diagnostics, comorbidity, BODY DISSATISFACTION, ANOREXIA-NERVOSA, PATHOLOGY, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Body Image, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Personality Assessment, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1701 Psychology, Clinical Psychology, 3202 Clinical sciences, 3210 Nutrition and dietetics, 5203 Clinical and health psychology

Abstract:

In the present study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) in a sample of 60 female eating disorder patients (M(age) = 27.82, SD = 9.76). The SAAS was developed to assess anxiety about being negatively evaluated for one's appearance. All patients completed the SAAS, the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Physical Health Questionnaire-9 Depression and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Psychopathology. The SAAS demonstrated a one-factor structure and a high internal consistency. The SAAS was significantly positive in relation to body mass index, drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction. Concerning personality dimensions, the SAAS was positively related to emotional problems (e.g. depression, anxiety) and interpersonal problems (e.g. suspiciousness, submissiveness). Findings suggest that the SAAS is a psychometrically sound instrument to assess anxiety about being negatively evaluated about one's appearance in a sample of eating disorder patients.