Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 among adolescents and young adults in Danish, Portuguese, and Swedish

In recent years, the study of body image shifted from focusing on the negative aspects to a more extensive view of body image. The present study seeks to validate a measure of positive body image, the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a) in Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Participants (N = 1012) were adolescents and young adults aged from 12 to 19. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the one-dimensional factor structure of the scale. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the scale was invariant across sex and country. Further results showed that BAS-2 was positively correlated with self-esteem, psychological well-being, and intuitive eating. It was negatively correlated with BMI among boys and girls in Portugal but not in Denmark and Sweden. Additionally, boys had higher body appreciation than girls. Results indicated that the BAS-2 has good psychometric properties in the three languages.