Validity and Reliability of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire in Adult Mexican Women.

Objective

This study aimed to validate the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) in Mexican women, evaluating its factor structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, convergent validity, and measurement invariance in women with and without an eating disorder (ED) diagnosis.

Method

The sample included 1220 women (123 with a self-reported clinical ED diagnosis and 1097 without one), aged 18-73. Participants completed the SATAQ-4, the seven-item Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q7), and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-8D). Analyses included exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and test-retest), and measurement invariance analyses.

Results

EFA supported a five-factor structure (peers, media, muscular, family, and thin) explaining 69.36% of the variance. CFA showed excellent model fit (CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.034; SRMR = 0.049). Internal consistency was high (subscales α = 0.86-0.96; total-scale α = 0.88-0.90), while test-retest reliability ranged from moderate to strong (r = 0.56-0.90). Convergent validity was supported by significant correlations with EDE-Q7 and BSQ-8D. Strict invariance was supported, and structural models showed adequate fit indices, although some latent parameters may differ between groups; scores were higher in the self-report clinical group.

Discussion

The SATAQ-4 demonstrates strong psychometric properties in Mexican women. Its invariance supports meaningful comparisons between self-report clinical and non-clinical groups, making it a valuable tool for identifying sociocultural risk factors and informing prevention and intervention strategies.