The Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ) for Women
The questionnaire below contains 44 statements. Read each statement and select the answer that reflects how much you agree or disagree with the statement.
For the best results, the questionnaire should be administered on the first and last week of a body attitudes intervention program.
One of the aims of such a program should be to increase self-esteem. An increase in positive attitudes and a decrease in negative attitudes towards one's body will indicate an increase in overall self-esteem.
Does it work? See the evidence below.
Adapted from David I Ben-Tovim and M. Kay Walker. The development of the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ), a new measure of women's attitudes towards their own bodies. Psycholgical Medicine, 1991, 21, 775 - 784
The meaning of your scores for the tests
Each of the tests above attempts to assess (score) an aspect of your attitude to your body.
For each of the tests:
- the highest score is 20
- the lowest score is 0
- a neutral score is 10.
A high score (more than 10) for any of the tests indicates that your attitude agrees with the attitude being tested. The closer the score is to 20 the stronger your attitude agrees with attitude being tested.
A low score (less than 10) for any of the tests indicates that your attitude disagrees with the attitude being tested. The closer the score is to 0 the weaker your attitude agrees with attitude being tested.
For example, lets look at the test "your consciousness of lower body fat". A score of 0 for the test indicates that you are not at all conscious of your lower body fatness and a score of 20 indicates that you are very conscious of your lower body fatness.
For a better understanding of the meanings of the scores for the tests please refer to the original article:
David I Ben-Tovim and M. Kay Walker. 1991. The development of the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ), a new measure of women's attitudes towards their own bodies. Psycholgical Medicine: 21, 775 - 784
ABSTRACT: A methodological problem for research investigating body-related attitudes in children and adolescents is the use of adult tools that have only been previously validated in adult populations. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the convergent validity of one psychometrically sound instrument of body attitudes, the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ), in a sample of 12-16 year old females. This was achieved by examining the association between scores obtained on each BAQ subscale with scores obtained on two widely used and validated tools in adolescent body research; the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Eating Disorders Inventory Body Dissatisfaction Subscale (EDI-BD). Girls from Years 8 to 10 were recruited from three private schools (n = 206). Participants completed standard demographic questions and the BAQ, BSQ, and EDI-BD. Height and weight were measured to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Strong and significant positive correlations were observed with both the BSQI and EDI-BD2 for four BAQ subscales; feeling fat (r1 = 0.82; r2 = 0.76), body disparagement (r1 = 0.65; r2 =0.60), salience weight/shape (r1 = 0.72; r2 = 0.54), and lower body fat (r1 = 0.64; r2 = 0.60), all p<0.001. The attractiveness subscale showed significant negative relationships (r1 = -0.33; r2 = -0.40) and those for the Strength/fitness subscale were not significant (r1 = -0.25; r2 = 0.31). These results indicate that BAQ can be used in a young female group to assess attitudes towards feeling fat, body disparagement, salience and lower body fat with a similar degree of validity to that observed in a female adult sample (Ben-Tovim and Walker, l991). We then examined the interaction between the BAQ subscale scores and subjects age, ethnicity, social class and BMI category. BMI category was the only parameter to show a significant interaction with four BAQ subscale scores, p<0.01. This was also observed for BSQ and EDI-BD scores, p<0.01. These results suggest the BAQ is a valid tool for assessing body-related attitudes of girls 12-16 years. The findings of this study therefore extend the research utility of the BAQ for use in young females (12-16 years).
Ben-Tovim, D. I., Walker, M. K., Murray, H., & Chin, G. (1990). Body size estimates: Body image or body attitude measures. Interactive Journal of Eating Disorders, 9(1), 57-67.
ABSTRACT: Estimates of body width and depth did not correlate significantly with the measured sizes of the body parts. Body estimates, untransformed by real sizes, were found to be closely related to certain attitudes towards the body, especially to feelings that the body was too fat and a source of stigma. Estimates were also significantly influenced by the posture adopted during the measuring process.
KEYWORDS: Body size; Body measurements; Self-esteem; Body image
Ben-Tovim, D. I., & Walker, M. K. (1991). Women's body attitudes: A review of measurement techniques. Interactive Journal of Eating Disorders, 10(2), 155-167.
ABSTRACT: A study that was designed to assess the range of women's attitudes toward their own bodies and to examine the application of available instruments to anorexic, bulimic, and other clinical populations. Instruments reviewed include the Body Cathexis Scale; Eating Disorders Inventory; Food, Fitness, and Looks Questionnaire; Body Shape Questionnaire; and Draw A Person.
KEYWORDS: Self-esteem; Body image ; Projective techniques; Body shape; Body cathexis
Ben-Tovim, D. I., & Walker, M. K. (1994). The influence of age and weight on women's body attitudes as measured by the body attitudes questionnaire (BAQ). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38(5), 477-481.
ABSTRACT: The study measured the influence of age and weight on the body-related attitudes of a community sample of 1,225 South Australian females, aged 13-65 years. Attitudes were found not to vary substantially with age. Only the Feeling Fat, Body Disparagement, and Lower Body Fatness sub-scales of the BAQ correlated with the Body Mass Index (BMI), while the effect of BMI on attitudes was independent of age. Body attitudes appear to be substantially independent of the current physical body.
KEYWORDS: Body weight; Body image
Ben-Tovim, D. I., & Walker, M. K. (1995). Body image, disfigurement and disability. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 39(3), 283.
ABSTRACT: (None)
KEYWORDS: Body; Body image