The body appreciation Scale-2 for Autistic adults (BAS-2A): Psychometric properties in autistic gender diverse and transgender adults from four english-speaking, Western countries

The Body Appreciation Scale-2A (BAS-2A) is a measure for capturing a core facet of positive body image in the adult Autistic population. Preliminary evidence suggests body appreciation may foster physical and psychological well-being among Autistic people who are also transgender or gender diverse (TGD); however, to date, the scale has not been validated within this group. To address this, we evaluated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the BAS-2A in Autistic TGD people. A total of 191 Autistic TGD people (aged 18-85 years) from Western countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) completed the BAS-2A along with additional measures of physical well-being and eating disorder symptomatology. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 12-item, unidimensional structure of the BAS-2A in the total sample. The BAS-2A also demonstrated excellent composite reliability. Evidence of convergent, concurrent, discriminant, and incremental validity was strong when using both observed and latent scores. Body appreciation was significantly associated with higher self-compassion, self-esteem, and quality of life, and lower eating disorder symptomatology. Overall, our results suggest that the BAS-2A is a valid and reliable measure for capturing body appreciation among Autistic TGD people. The present study offers a valuable contribution toward a better understanding of positive body image in the wider Autistic population.