Validation of a Spanish Version of the Physical Appearance Comparison Scales

Abstract

Physical appearance comparison has been widely studied because of its strong relationship with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. The main objective of this study was to validate the physical appearance comparison scales (PACS-Revised and PACS-3) in a sample of Spanish men and women and examine their psychometric properties. The sample consisted of 1151 participants (age M = 22.31, SD = 3.40). A unidimensional structure was corroborated in the PACS-R, and three factors in the PACS-3 (proximal, distal, and muscularity comparisons). The PACS-R and PACS-3 showed full scalar invariance across sex. The internal consistency for the PACS-R and subscales of PACS-3 were satisfactory. Positive statistically significant relationships were found with measures of disordered eating (EAT-26) and dysmorphic concern (DCQ). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the PACS-3 discretely improved the prediction of disordered eating over PACS-R, but did not show improvement in the prediction of dysmorphic concern beyond the PACS-R. These findings suggest that the PACS-R and PACS-3 may be useful tools for evaluating the tendency of men and women to compare their physical appearance.