Psychometric investigation of the Hungarian version of the body awareness questionnaire (BAQ-H) among yoga practitioners and young adult controls

Abstract

Background: There are many questionnaires that assess different aspects of body awareness based on various concepts. Aim: The study aimed to develop the Hungarian version of the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) that measures non-patological and non-emotional aspects of body awareness and to evaluate it from a psychometric point of view. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by individuals regularly practicing yoga (N = 140, 16.4% male, age: M = 32.1 years, SD = 8.65) and by young adult controls (N = 227, 32.2% male, M = 26.4 years, SD = 9.72). Results: The shortened 17-item version of the questionnaire showed good internal consistency (above 0.80 in both samples), while confirmatory factor analysis indicated just acceptable fit (assuming a single factor structure: CMIN/df = 2.679, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.068 [0,062-0,074], pClose < 0.001). Mean score of yoga practitioners was higher than that of controls even after controlling for age and sex (88.94, SD = 16.15 vs. 77.90, SD = 15.35; F(1,363) = 29.376; p < 0.001), and it was weakly connected to weekly frequency of yoga practice (Kendall tau-b = 0.13, p < 0.05) and to the elapsed time from starting practice (Kendall tau-b = 0.17, p < 0.01). The questionnaire showed a strong correlation with the Somatic Absorption Scale (controls: r = 0.59 vs. yoga practitioners: 0.70, p < 0.001) and a medium level connection to the Private Body Consciousness Scale (Kendall tau-b = 0.26 and 0.29, p < 0.001) and to positive affectivity (r = 0.27 and 0.36, p < 0.001). Relationships with mindfulness (MAAS) were weak and medium level in the two subsamples (r = 0.18, p < 0.01 and 0.38, p < 0.001, respectively). Consequences: The results support the va lidity and reliability of the Hungarian version of the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ-H).