Brief report: Assessment of body image in survivors of childhood

Abstract

Objective: To establish preliminary reliability and validity data of the Body Image Instrument (BII), a 28-item self-report measure developed to assess body image in adolescents and young adults with cancer. Method: As part of a larger study assessing long-term adjustment in survivors of childhood cancer, 40 males and 27 females (mean age = 19.69 years, SD = 3.87) completed the BII and two validation measures: the 5F-36 health survey and the Perceived Illness Experience measure. Results: The five BII subscales- General Appearance, Body Competence, Others' Reaction to Appearance, Value of Appearance, and Body Parts-exhibited moderate to high internal reliability and concurrent validity. No significant sex differences in body image emerged, nor was age at diagnosis or time since diagnosis significantly correlated with body image. Conclusions: The measure may be of value in clinical settings, where it could be used to identify adjustment problems related to body image disturbance in pediatric cancer patients.