Structure And Validity Of The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale Among Emerging Adult Women And Men In China

Body image disturbances and disordered eating have typicallybeen seen as problems affecting women living in developed Western countries. Recent reports however, have shown an increasein body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in non-Westerncountries, found even in rapidly developingAsian countries such as Mainland China where body types are typically leaner. Numerous studies have documented body image disturbances implicated as a risk factor in the subsequent onset of eating disorders, and other mental health problems, especially among young women, while men are also under pressure to achieve the "perfect body". Objectified body consciousness, the experience of internalizing an observer’s perspective of one’s ownphysical appearance,has established links with body image and eatingdisturbances in samples from Western countries but has received fleeting empirical attention in Asian countries where such concerns are also common, particularly among girls and women. To address this gap, two studies assessed the structure and construct validity of McKinley’s (1996) Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) among emerging adults in China. In Study 1, principal components analyses (PCA) on responses to OBCS items among emerging adults (475 women,451 men) revealed a three component solution similar to the original OBCS structure; dimensions reflected Body Surveillance, Body Shame, and Control Beliefs related to agenetic basis for body size and explained 23.90%,14.81%, and 8.96% of the variance in the total OBCS. Associations with conceptually-related measures (appearance social comparisons, interpersonal appearance pressure, media appearance pressure, disordered eating behavior, fatness concerns, body dissatisfaction) supported the construct validity of the first two components but not Control Beliefs.In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) on a second sample (375 women,241 men) indicated a two-factor model based on the PCA-derived Body Surveillance and Body Shame components was the best-fitting solution from several alternatives. For women, fits for the two factor solution were:CMIN/df=2.31, p=.001, CFI=0.96, TLI=0.91, RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.067. Among men the two factor solution had the following fit indice values:CMIN/df=1.75, p=.004, CFI=0.95, TLI=0.88, RMSEA=0.06, SRMR=0.043. Each CFA factor had satisfactory convergent validity with measures of appearance social comparisons, interpersonal appearance pressure, media appearance pressure, disordered eating behavior, fatness concerns, body dissatisfactionconcern about appearance scale and negative affect. Discriminant validity was also supported by low correlations with concetually-unrelated measures of denial, awareness of tension and coping confidence. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses for women indicated body surveillance and body shame combined for significant variance in the prediction of disordered eatingand fatness concerns, beyond effects of established risk factors (i.e., appearance comparisons with peers, perceived mass media pressure, perceived interpersonal appearance pressure, investment in appearance as a source of self-worth, negative affect). However, these OBCS features failed to make a unique, additional contribution to body dissatisfaction among women after controlling for other predictors. For men, OBCS factors combined for significant additional variance in disordered eating and fatness concerns but only Body Shame made a unique contribution, while no significant additional variance in body dissatisfaction was found. Together, these studies supported the use of a two-factor version of the OBCS in mainland Chinese samples.