Validation of the Sociocultural Attitudes Questionnaire on Appearance (SATAQ-4) in the Colombian population

The desire to meet modern aesthetic but unattainable body standards affects mental health, because people internalize the ideals of beauty and accept social pressures about body appearance even beyond their well-being. The objective of this instrumental study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Sociocultural Attitude Questionnaire on Appearance (SATAQ-4) in the Colombian population, using a non-randomized stratified sample of 214 people, 138 women and 76 men, with an average age of 25.13 years (SD = 7.66). The Spanish version of the instrument validated in Argentina was used again, which was evaluated by expert judges to perform the linguistic adaptation and apply it to a pilot sample before the final application, made under the required ethical standards. The analysis of the psychometric conditions was carried out from the Item Response Theory, by using the Rasch model, and through the WINSTEPS software. The results indicate that the Spanish version fulfills the adequate psychometric conditions in the five dimensions that make up the instrument (.72-.94); and that the degree of difficulty and ability reach appropriate adjustment values, which indicates that the questionnaire has adequate psychometric conditions and maintains its original internal structure. In conclusion, the final version of this adaptation of SATAQ-4 can be used in a population of similar origin, in order to evaluate the effect of sociocultural aspects on satisfaction with body image.