Compared with white and Latino adolescents, black adolescents reported a more positive perception of their own physical appearance; however, the difference may actually be an artifact of the measurement instrument.

Perceived Physical Appearance

Assessing Measurement Equivalence in Black, Latino, and White Adolescents

Anna E. Epperson, Sarah Depaoli, Anna V. Song, Jan Wallander, Marc N. Elliott, Paula Cuccaro, Susan R. Tortolero, Mark A. Schuster

ResearchPosted on rand.org Jul 6, 2016Published in: Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2016

Objective

This aim of this study was to examine whether the construct of physical appearance perception differed among the three largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States using an adolescent sample.

Methods

Black (46%), Latino (31%), and White (23%) adolescents in Grade 10 from the Healthy Passages study (N = 4,005) completed the Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents-Physical Appearance Scale (SPPA-PA) as a measure of physical appearance perception.

Results

Overall, Black adolescents had a more positive self-perception of their physical appearance than Latino and White adolescents. However, further analysis using measurement invariance testing revealed that the construct of physical appearance perception, as measured by SPPA-PA, was not comparable across the three racial/ethnic groups in both males and females.

Conclusions

These results suggest that observed differences may not reflect true differences in perceptions of physical appearance. Measures that are equivalent across racial/ethnic groups should be developed to ensure more precise measurement and understanding.

Key Takeaways

  • Compared with white and Latino adolescents, black adolescents reported a more positive perception of their own physical appearance.
  • However, observed differences may be an artifact of the measurement scale itself and may not reflect true differences in how these groups of adolescents perceived themselves.

Recommendations

Researchers may need to develop racially/ethnically relevant measures for perceived physical appearance.

Interventions intended to address behaviors motivated by negative body image, such as unsafe weight loss methods, may need to be racially/ethnically relevant to ensure healthy and realistic perceptions about one's body and physical appearance.

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Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Society of Pediatric Psychology
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2016
  • Pages: 11
  • Document Number: EP-66532

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