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Embodiment and Psychological Health in Adolescence. 1. Development and Validation of a Brief 12-item Questionnaire to Measure the Experience of Embodiment

Foster, Lo LU ; Lundh, Lars-Gunnar LU and Daukantaité, Daiva LU (2025) In Journal for Person-Oriented Research 11(1). p.10-24
Abstract (Swedish)
Background Adolescence is characterized by large bodily changes and a heightened body-focus. It is also a sensitive period for the onset of various forms of psychopathology. Previous longitudinal studies have shown that body dissatisfaction is a predictor of disordered eating, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and depression among adolescents. Body dissatisfaction, however, only represents one aspect of bodily self-experience. Another aspect is embodiment, defined as the anchoring of one’s identity in bodily self-experience. Research in this area, however, has been hampered by the lack of a psychometrically sound measure of embodiment that can be administered to adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to develop a brief measure of... (More)
Background Adolescence is characterized by large bodily changes and a heightened body-focus. It is also a sensitive period for the onset of various forms of psychopathology. Previous longitudinal studies have shown that body dissatisfaction is a predictor of disordered eating, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and depression among adolescents. Body dissatisfaction, however, only represents one aspect of bodily self-experience. Another aspect is embodiment, defined as the anchoring of one’s identity in bodily self-experience. Research in this area, however, has been hampered by the lack of a psychometrically sound measure of embodiment that can be administered to adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to develop a brief measure of embodiment suitable for young adolescents.
Methods A 12-item Embodiment Scale (ES-12) was developed and underwent confirmatory factor analysis and tests of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, measure invariance, subscale inter-correlations, and construct validity. Incremental validity was analyzed to see if the ES-12 could predict disordered eating, non-suicidal self-injury, depression, and anxiety, above and beyond that of a measure of body dissatisfaction.
Results The ES-12 was found to exhibit robust psychometric properties, such as a distinct three-factor structure, strong internal consistency, and good test-retest reliability. It demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity, indicating that its three subscales—Harmonious Body, Disharmonious Body, and Body for Others—are significantly associated with a range of psychological health issues in adolescents. In addition, the ES-12 demonstrated consistent incremental validity by predicting disordered eating, NSSI, depression, and anxiety, beyond that of a measure of body dissatisfaction.
Conclusions The results suggest that ES-12 is a useful instrument in research on the experience of embodiment among adolescents.
Keywords: embodiment; Embodiment Scale-12 (ES-12); adolescence; body dissatisfaction; disordered eating; non-suicidal self-injury; anxiety; depression; incremental validity
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal for Person-Oriented Research
volume
11
issue
1
pages
10 - 24
publisher
Lundh Research Foundation
external identifiers
  • scopus:105002417618
  • pmid:40207190
ISSN
2002-0244
DOI
10.17505/jpor.2025.27576
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a470c0f7-2b53-4a72-a3e5-50bc7b4202fd
date added to LUP
2025-04-05 08:05:11
date last changed
2025-07-08 03:00:12
@article{a470c0f7-2b53-4a72-a3e5-50bc7b4202fd,
  abstract     = {{Background Adolescence is characterized by large bodily changes and a heightened body-focus. It is also a sensitive period for the onset of various forms of psychopathology. Previous longitudinal studies have shown that body dissatisfaction is a predictor of disordered eating, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and depression among adolescents. Body dissatisfaction, however, only represents one aspect of bodily self-experience. Another aspect is embodiment, defined as the anchoring of one’s identity in bodily self-experience. Research in this area, however, has been hampered by the lack of a psychometrically sound measure of embodiment that can be administered to adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to develop a brief measure of embodiment suitable for young adolescents. <br/>Methods A 12-item Embodiment Scale (ES-12) was developed and underwent confirmatory factor analysis and tests of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, measure invariance, subscale inter-correlations, and construct validity. Incremental validity was analyzed to see if the ES-12 could predict disordered eating, non-suicidal self-injury, depression, and anxiety, above and beyond that of a measure of body dissatisfaction.<br/>Results The ES-12 was found to exhibit robust psychometric properties, such as a distinct three-factor structure, strong internal consistency, and good test-retest reliability. It demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity, indicating that its three subscales—Harmonious Body, Disharmonious Body, and Body for Others—are significantly associated with a range of psychological health issues in adolescents. In addition, the ES-12 demonstrated consistent incremental validity by predicting disordered eating, NSSI, depression, and anxiety, beyond that of a measure of body dissatisfaction.<br/>Conclusions The results suggest that ES-12 is a useful instrument in research on the experience of embodiment among adolescents. <br/>Keywords: embodiment; Embodiment Scale-12 (ES-12); adolescence; body dissatisfaction; disordered eating; non-suicidal self-injury; anxiety; depression; incremental validity<br/>}},
  author       = {{Foster, Lo and Lundh, Lars-Gunnar and Daukantaité, Daiva}},
  issn         = {{2002-0244}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{10--24}},
  publisher    = {{Lundh Research Foundation}},
  series       = {{Journal for Person-Oriented Research}},
  title        = {{Embodiment and Psychological Health in Adolescence. 1. Development and Validation of a Brief 12-item Questionnaire to Measure the Experience of Embodiment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.17505/jpor.2025.27576}},
  doi          = {{10.17505/jpor.2025.27576}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}