EVIDENCE OF THE VALIDITY OF THE BODY IMAGE SHAPE SCALE IN PHYSICULTURISTS⁽¹⁾

ABSTRACT

In bodybuilding competitions, proportion, definition, symmetry and muscle volume are analyzed, which makes the tireless search for the perfect body by athletes, a dissatisfaction with body image. Therefore, this work aimed to develop and validate a specific silhouette scale for female and male bodybuilding athletes (Shape Scale), which took place in three phases. 1) Elaboration of eleven body image drawings that represented the competition categories; 2) Agreement (Kappa test) between national and international bodybuilding specialists/professionals in ordering the drawings in ascending and progressive order of muscularity; 3) Application and validation of the Shape Scale in active amateur and professional athletes affiliated to National and International Bodybuilding Federations in both sexes. 180 athletes (50 women and 130 men) participated in the research. The scale showed adequate temporal stability reliability (Kappa test-retest≥0.95). The instrument showed criterion validity by showing that athletes from different competition categories chose silhouettes compatible with their categories (p<0.001). Conclusion: the female and male Shape Scale showed evidence of reliability and validity for the sample, and can be used to assess satisfaction with the body image of bodybuilders from different categories.

Keywords:
Body image; Bodybuilding; Scale; Vigorexia