Validation of the Spanish Version of the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) and an Exploration of Its Relationship to Meditation and Embodiment Variables.
Laura C Sánchez-sánchez, Amanda Klysing, Ingela Steij Stålbrand, Tove Lundberg
Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) March 14, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare13060628 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA Spanish version of the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) showed good reliability and validity in a sample of 281 Spanish adults. The scale had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82, indicating good internal consistency. Positive correlations with body appreciation and self-compassion, and no correlation with sexual satisfaction, supported convergent and discriminant validity. The Spanish BAQ also distinguished between meditators and non-meditators, supporting its conceptual validity. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure rather than the one- or four-factor models of the original English version. The scale is suitable for further study in clinical and non-clinical Spanish populations.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 281 |
| Population | Spanish adults |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Interoception Self-compassion Statistical factor analysis Surveys and questionnaires |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key finding | The Spanish version of the Body Awareness Questionnaire demonstrated good reliability and validity, with a two-factor structure supported by confirmatory factor analysis. |
Abstract
Purposes: The Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) has been considered the best available measure of body awareness, but it is not currently available in Spanish. Methods: To address this shortcoming, a sample of 281 Spanish participants completed a survey with a Spanish version of the BAQ, as well as the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS-2), the Self-Compassion Scale-Short (SCS-S) and the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale-Short (NSSS-S). Results: Analysis of the Spanish BAQ showed good reliability: α = 0.82. Positive correlations with the BAS-2 and the SCS-S, and no significant correlation with the NSSS-S, support the convergent and discriminant validity of the Spanish BAQ. In conceptual validity, the Spanish BAQ further successfully discriminated between meditators and non-meditators, showing additional support for the conceptual validity of the measure. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) supported a two-factor structure, rather than a one-factor or four-factor version, as proposed for the original English version. Conclusions: The Spanish version of the BAQ has shown adequate reliability and validity and would be a good scale to continue exploring in clinical Spanish population samples, e.g., in patients with chronic pain, and non-clinical ones, e.g., after interventions in sexuality or sport. It could be an interesting questionnaire to assess outcomes of mindfulness-based interventions.