The Polish version of the Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measure : adaptation, validation, and psychometric evaluation

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Background: The study aimed to adapt the Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measure (BEECOM) for the Polish population and assess its psychometric properties, including factor structure, reliability, validity, and temporal stability. Social comparison processes, particularly in the domains of body image, eating, and exercise, are increasingly recognized as important factors influencing psychological well-being and the development of disordered eating behaviors.
Participants and procedure: Study 1 involved 408 participants (Mage = 26.26, SD = 9.60; 49.9% female) and focused on scale adaptation through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 2 (N = 70; Mage = 41.23, SD = 13.21) and Study 3 (N = 129; Mage = 20.68, SD = 2.77) assessed the temporal stability of the 18-, 12-, and 9-item BEECOM versions across three one-month intervals.
Results: A revised factor structure led to the Polish BEECOM-R, which demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity (with PACS and SATAQ-3), and measurement invariance across gender and age groups. Temporal stability analyses showed satisfactory to strong consistency (r = .48-.87) and minimal mean-level change, though some variability appeared in the Body and Exercise subscales. The 18- and 9-item versions outperformed the 12-item version in terms of stability.
Conclusions: The Polish BEECOM-R is a valid and reliable tool for measuring appearance-related social comparisons and can be effectively used in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research.