Pilot adaptation and psychometric assessment of the russian-language version of the questionnaire of sociocultural attitudes towards appearance (SATAQ-4)

Context and relevance. Internalization of socio-cultural standards of appearance is considered as one of the key factors in the formation of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Internalization of sociocultural standards of appearance is understood as the degree to which an individual accepts culturally transmitted ideals of appearance as personally significant, strives to conform to them, and implements behavioral strategies aimed at achieving them. Despite the widespread use of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) questionnaire in foreign studies, its Russian-language version remains insufficiently studied. Objective: to pilot adaptation and psychometric verification of the Russian-language version of the SATAQ-4 questionnaire on a non-clinical sample. Materials and Methods: The study involved 80 respondents aged 18 to 30 years (M = 22; SD = 3), 88% of them are women. To assess the construct validity, the scale of assessment of eating behavior (EDI) and the scale of physical perfectionism were used. The psychometric analysis included exploratory factor analysis, calculation of the Cronbach's α coefficient, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin coefficient and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity, as well as correlation analysis (Spearman's r). Results: The data suitability indicators for factor analysis were high (KMO = 0.823; χ2 = 1239.651; p < 0.001). The overall internal consistency of the scale was α = 0.906. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, a five-factor structure was obtained that explains 77.46% of the total variance and partially corresponds to the original model. The identified factors reflect social pressure, internalization of thinness, media influence, internalization of sportiness, and behavioral orientation towards sports. Statistically significant positive correlations of SATAQ-4 indicators with symptoms of eating disorders and physical perfectionism were found. Conclusions. The results obtained indicate good reliability and satisfactory structural validity of the Russian-language version of the SATAQ-4 questionnaire. The revealed features of the factor structure may reflect culturally specific aspects of the perception of body standards in the Russian sample. The methodology can be recommended for use in research practice.

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