French Validation of the Male Body Dissatisfaction Scale in a sample of young men.

Abstract

Concerns about muscle development are important in the elaboration “General body appearance dissatisfaction of body image” for males: for men, the ideal body is lean and muscular. In a recent study, 85% of French men reported being dissatisfied with their muscle mass. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest stability, and convergent validity) of the French-language translation of the Male Body Dissatisfaction Scale (MBDS). Method Three-hundred and nineteen young males aged 15 to 23 years (17.0±1.85) participated in this study. The participants were asked to complete three questionnaires: the Male Body Dissatisfaction Scale (MBDS), the Body-Esteem Scale (BES), and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). Test-retest reliability for the MBDS was evaluated at three weeks.

Results Exploratory factor analyses revealed two factors: “Muscular body dissatisfaction” (eight items) and “General body appearance dissatisfaction” (10 items). These two factors explain 42.73% of the total variance of the MBDS. The internal reliability coefficients from the two subscales were calculated. Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 for factor 1 and 0.82 for factor 2. Test-retest (n=263) reliability was high for the total scale (r=0.81), as well as for the subscales (Muscularity body dissatisfaction: r=0.86; General body appearance dissatisfaction r=0.70). These two factors correlated with the BES and the RSES.

Discussion The MBDS appears to be a useful tool in identifying and creating treatment programs for body image disorders in young men. In addition, it could be useful for evaluating treatment efficacy.