Validation of a Farsi version of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (F-SATAQ-4) in Iranian men and women
Introduction
Disordered eating (i.e., weight/shape dissatisfaction, dietary restraint) results in substantial distress and impairment (Berg et al., 2009); and predicts future onset of eating disorders (APA, 2013). Accordingly, understanding disordered eating etiology is essential in eating disorder prevention. The sociocultural model is a widely studied paradigm for disordered eating etiology (Thompson et al., 1999; van den Berg et al., 2002). Namely, Western's cultures' idealization of women's thinness (i.e., the thin ideal; Scharrer, 2013) increases perceived pressures to become thin from family, peers, and media (i.e., pressures for thinness; Keel & Forney, 2013). Further, pressures for thinness may result in heightened thin-ideal internalization, or the idea that thinness is important to achieve. The sociocultural model is likewise salient for men (Smolak et al., 2005), such that Western idealization of an athletic ideal may result in athletic-ideal pressures and can lead to athletic-ideal internalization. As the thin and athletic ideals are largely unattainable (Smolak et al., 2005; van den Berg et al., 2002), these factors may lead to body dissatisfaction, and subsequent disordered eating (Keel & Forney, 2013; Thompson et al., 1999; van den Berg et al., 2002).
Emerging research among Muslim women showed that wearing the hijab (a traditional Muslim head covering), buffer against sociocultural influences on disordered eating (Dunkel et al., 2010; Durovic et al., 2016; Kertechian & Swami, 2016; Swami et al., 2014). Notably, these studies have been conducted in countries where the hijab is voluntary, and Muslims are a minority (i.e., United States, Serbia, France, and Great Britain). As such, a critical next step is examining the sociocultural model in predominantly Muslim countries, and/or countries where the hijab is compulsory (e.g., Iran).
Furthermore, given the role of Western media in the sociocultural model (Becker, 2004; Becker et al., 2011), it is important to examine regions where Western media is inaccessible or censored (e.g., Iran). While no known analyses of Iranian media exist, anecdotally, Iranian media does not promote thin or muscular ideals. That said, Iran's rapid economic growth and increased use of social media may accelerate the process of Westernization among Iranians, resulting in increased salience of the sociocultural model (Saiphoo & Vahedi, 2019), particularly among younger, wealthier Iranians, such as college students. As such, examination of sociocultural influences in Iranian college students is warranted.
Findings on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in Iran show comparable prevalence to global levels (i.e., 30–75%; Garrusi & Baneshi, 2013; Naeimi et al., 2016; Sahlan et al., 2020; Shoraka et al., 2019). While no known study has examined the overall sociocultural model in Iran, research has linked: (1) thin-ideal internalization and disordered eating in adolescent girls (Shahyad et al., 2018); and (2) Western media consumption, appearance-related pressure, and disordered eating for men and women (Garrusi & Baneshi, 2013). These findings highlight the need to comprehensively measure and examine the sociocultural model in Iran.
The Sociocultural Attitude Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ; Heinberg et al., 1995) is a well-established measure for the sociocultural model of disordered eating risk. The fourth edition of the measure (SATAQ-4; Schaefer et al., 2015) consists of five subscales: (1) thin-ideal internalization; (2) athletic-ideal internalization; (3) family pressure; (4) peer pressure; and (5) media pressure. To date, the SATAQ-4 has shown a 5-factor structure, with robust reliability and validity, among college students in the United States, Italy, England, Australia, and France (Rodgers et al., 2016; Schaefer et al., 2015), college women in Spain (Llorente et al., 2015), and Japanese adolescent girls (Yamamiya et al., 2016). Two exceptions were replications among Japanese and Indian adolescent boys (4- and 6-factor structures, respectively; Sharma et al., 2015; Yamamiya et al., 2019). Additionally, the SATAQ-4 demonstrated high convergent validity, as evidenced by significant associations with disordered eating, drive for muscularity, and appearance evaluation (Llorente et al., 2015; Rodgers et al., 2016; Schaefer et al., 2015), and body-related social comparison (Fitzsimmons-Craft et al., 2014; Schaefer & Thompson, 2014; Shahyad et al., 2018).
The purpose of the present study was to translate the SATAQ-4 into Farsi (F-SATAQ-4), explore its factor structure in Iranian college men and women (Study 1), and to examine its validity and gender differences (Study 2). For Study 2, we hypothesized that (H1) the SATAQ-4 would demonstrate good convergent validity, as evidenced by significant, medium-to-large, positive associations with shape/weight concerns, body-related social comparison, perceived pressure for thinness, and appearance evaluation (Fitzsimmons-Craft et al., 2014; Jackson & Chen, 2010; Llorente et al., 2015; Rodgers et al., 2016; Schaefer et al., 2015; Schaefer & Thompson, 2014; Shahyad et al., 2018). Secondly, (H2) we hypothesized that the F-SATAQ-4 would demonstrate good discriminant validity, as evidenced by non-significant associations with self-esteem. Finally, we hypothesized (H3) that women would score higher on thin-ideal internalization and pressures for thinness, while men would score higher on athletic-ideal internalization (Rodgers et al., 2016; Schaefer et al., 2015).
Section snippets
General method
Two studies were conducted to validate the F-SATAQ-4 in Iranian college students. Study 1 examined EFA among men and women separately. In Study 2, an independent sample verified the resulting factor structure via CFA. We examined the reliability and validity of the F-SATAQ-4 subscales, and conducted gender comparisons.
General discussion
This was the first study to translate the SATAQ-4 into Farsi and validate it among Iranian college students. Results replicated the 5-factor structure (Schaefer et al., 2015): thin- and athletic-ideal internalization; family, peer, and media pressures for thinness. The F-SATAQ-4 showed acceptable, but weaker than expected convergent validity with appearance evaluation and comparison, sociocultural pressures, and shape/weight concerns. The F-SATAQ-4 showed discriminant validity from self-esteem
Conclusion
This study describes the translation and validation of the Farsi version of the SATAQ-4 (F-SATAQ-4). Results provide preliminary support for use of the F-SATAQ-4 for the assessment of sociocultural factors among Iranians and confirm that sociocultural factors are connected to body dissatisfaction in that group. The strength of this study is that it is the first validation of the F-SATAQ-4 in a culture, where modest dress is mandatory and mainstream Western media is largely censored. Overall,
Declaration of competing interest
Authors have no conflict of interests.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Kristen Culbert for her valuable input on the manuscript.
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