The Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Body Mass Anxiety Scale: A Methodological Study

Objective: This research aims to translate the Body Mass Anxiety Scale (BMAS) into Turkish and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: Data from 647 adult volunteers in Türkiye were gathered online for this methodological study. Two forms, the demographic information form (7 items) and the Body Mass Anxiety Scale (20 items), were used in the study. A reliability analysis was conducted, along with confirmatory factor analysis, to assess the scale's construct validity. The research was completed with the stages: The Body Mass Anxiety Scale is translated into Turkish and then back into English, a team of experts tests its content validity, and psychometric analysis (item-total correlation, validity coefficient, and factor analysis) is performed. Results: Factor analyses revealed that the scale has a two-factor structure: weight gain and loss anxiety. The scale was deemed highly reliable with a Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient of 0.92. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Body Mass Anxiety Scale (BMAS), a novel instrument with a two-factor structure to assess body mass anxiety.