The objective of the study was to validate a Polish version of the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (BIAQ). The study included 115 participants with no diagnosis (control group) (Mage = 20.53, SD = 1.80) on which we have based factor analyses, 48 participants diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (Mage = 18.69, SD = 3.52) and 39 participants diagnosed with bulimia nervosa (Mage = 22.28, SD = 3.80). In the current study, we have run confirmatory factor analysis; however, the analysis did not fit the data (CFI = 0.81, RMSEA = 0.09). Three-factor solution (number of factors were chosen basing on parallel analysis and MAP) was assessed using exploratory structural equation modeling approach (extraction: Maximum Likelihood; rotation: Geomin) which appeared to fit the data well (CFI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.07). Validation with the clinical sample was performed using multi-group ESEM. Since the models achieved only configural level of invariance, we have examined the structure of clinical group with next ESEM model (CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05). To evaluate internal consistency, we have employed Omega (ω) and Cronbach's α with bootstrapped 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI). The first factor (food and weight preoccupation) was 0.79 (95 % CI = 0.74-0.83), for second factor (social activities) was 0.86 (95 % CI = 0.81-0.90), and for third factor (clothing) was 0.84 (95 % CI = 0.79-0.87). Convergent validity was assessed by correlating the Eating Disorder Inventory and the Body Attitude Test scores. The results have shown that the Polish version of the BIAQ fulfilled basic psychometric criteria and may be used for evaluation of body image avoidance behaviors among Polish women.
Keywords: Avoidance behavior; Body image disturbance; Validation; Women.