Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Female Muscularity Scale among Chinese young women

Abstract

Purpose: The Female Muscularity Scale (FMS) was specifically developed for assessing drive for muscularity in women. The current study aimed to translate the FMS into Chinese (FMS-C) and examine its psychometric properties among Chinese young women.

Methods: Based on standard procedures, the FMS was translated into Chinese. By using the psych and lavaan packages on R version 4.0.3, the current study examined the factor structure, reliability, and convergent and incremental validity of the FMS-C with a sample of 517 Chinese women college students ([Formula: see text]= 18.86 years).

Results: Results showed a 2-factor structure including attitudes and behaviors of the FMS-C. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) was .91 for the total FMS-C scale and .89 and .88 for the Attitudes and Behaviors subscales, respectively. Results also revealed evidence for good convergent and incremental validity of the FMS-C.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that the FMS-C can be a useful tool to measure both attitudes and behaviors underlying drive for muscularity and muscle tone concerns among Chinese young women.

Level of evidence: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Keywords: Body image; Chinese; Drive for muscularity; Psychometric properties; Validation.