In the Company We Keep: Social Physique Anxiety Levels Differ around Parents and Peers

This study examined the psychometric properties of two scales which assessed social physique anxiety (SPA) in the context of peers (peer SPA) and parents (parent SPA), and differences in reported levels of peer SPA and parent SPA. Young adults (N = 381, 161 males, Mage = 18.69 years) completed self-report measures. Results supported the internal consistency, convergent validity and factor structure of the peer SPA and parent SPA scales. Also, participants reported significantly higher levels of peer SPA compared to parent SPA. Findings offer preliminary support for the investigation of contextualized SPA using the scales tested in this study, and suggest more research is needed to better understand the processes that may increase or decrease SPA when surrounded by peers and parents.