Spanish validation of the Body Image States Scale (BISS): evaluation of sensitivity to exposure to photographs on Instagram

Current Psychology https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-07245-1 most of the assessment scales validated in Spanish have focused on body image as a stable trait, such as the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) (Cooper et al., 1987), the shape and weight concern subscales of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) (Fairburn & Beglin, 1994) or the body dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) (Garner et al., 1983). Some questionnaires assess body image from a contextual approach (e.g., Situational Inventory of Body Image Dysphoria, [SIBID]) (Cash, 2002), although the Body Image States Scale (BISS; Cash et al., 2002), which is the first brief measure of body image as a state (Thompson & Schaefer, 2019), was not published until 2002. The BISS comprises six items that measure aspects of body experience at the time of assessment and has demonstrated high internal consistency and high correlations with measures assessing negative attitudes toward physical appearance (concerns about body weight, size, and shape), eating symptomatology (Alleva et al., 2014), and body dissatisfaction (Cash et al., 2002; Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019). The scale has been used frequently in previous studies, demonstrating its usefulness in analyzing variations in body image states in everyday life (Casale et al., 2024; Etu & Gray, 2010; Melnyk et al., 2004; Rudiger et al., 2007). Introduction Body image is a complex and multidimensional construct composed of body-related behaviors, the perception of one’s own body characteristics, such as the estimation of body size and body fat (Mölbert et al., 2018), as well as thoughts, attitudes, and emotions about one’s body (Cash & Smolak, 2012; Tuschen-Caffier et al., 2015). Some authors have considered that body image is a stable trait independent of temporal variations and situational contexts (Cash, 1990, 2002; Tiggemann, 2001). Meanwhile, other authors defend that it varies depending on the context and time (Labarge et al., 1998; Lavin & Cash, 2001). In spite of this, Cristina Senín-Calderón [email protected] 1 Department of Psychology, University of Cádiz, Cadiz, Spain 2 Department of personality, evaluation and psychological treatments, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain 3 Department of personality, evaluation and psychological treatments, University of Seville, Seville, Spain 4 Avda. República Árabe Saharaui S/N. Puerto Real, Cadiz, Spain Abstract The aim of the present study was to validate the Spanish version of the Body Image State Scale (BISS) in a sample of Spanish males and females and to examine its psychometric properties. We evaluated the BISS as a measure of body image state using an experimental task to assess context sensitivity after exposure to attractive Instagram photographs. The sample consisted of 533 participants (M = 22.40, SD = 3.52). The unidimensional structure of the BISS as found by the authors of the original scale was corroborated. The BISS showed satisfactory internal consistency and full scalar invariance across sex. Negative relationships were found with a measure of dysmorphic concerns (Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire, [DCQ]) and body mass index (BMI). Mean difference analyses showed that participants in the experimental group evaluated their physical appearance as being worse after exposure to photographs of young men considered attractive. The Spanish validation of the BISS seems adequate for assessing state body image in the general population, opening a wide field of clinical and research applications. Keywords Body image state · BISS · Body dissatisfaction · Dysmorphic concern · Instagram Accepted: 23 December 2024 © The Author(s) 2025 Spanish validation of the Body Image States Scale (BISS): evaluation of sensitivity to exposure to photographs on Instagram IreneSierra1· MaríaRoncero2· Juan F.Rodríguez-Testal3· CristinaSenín-Calderón1,4 1 3 Current Psychology The BISS has been translated into German (Vocks et al., 2007), Italian (Carraro et al., 2010), Dutch (Alleva et al., 2014), and French (Bardi et al., 2021). The “Spanish Body Image State Scale” (S-BISS), is a Spanish-language version validated in Colombia by the team of Mebarak-Chams et al. (2019). Although the results accrued substantial evidence of construct validity in the Colombian population (MebarakChams et al., 2019), it needs to be revised and adapted to the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the population of Spain to address the possible effect of cultural differences (Muñiz et al., 2013; Swami & Barron, 2019), such as standards of beauty and attitudes toward the body and linguistic expressions. Validation of the BISS in a Spanish population would be very useful both for evaluating treatment progress in clinical practice and analyzing short-term changes in selfevaluation of physical appearance in research. Such a scale would expand knowledge of appearance dissatisfaction in other Spanish-speaking populations. Dissatisfaction with physical appearance is a risk factor for the development of eating disorders (Stice et al., 2011) and body dysmorphic disorder (Convertino et al., 2022), making it a priority public health problem (Bornioli et al., 2019). A recent meta-analysis conducted by López-Gil et al. (2023) shows that the overall proportion of children and adolescents with eating disorders in Spain is 30.41%, and it is estimated to be associated with a mortality rate higher than that of any other mental disorder (World Health Organization, 2024). It is therefore important to have tools to evaluate their onset and evolution. From the perspective of the tripartite influence model of body image and eating disturbance (Thompson et al., 1999), the key elements are internalization of the beauty ideal, social comparison, and interpersonal and media pressure. People receive pressure from social agents, such as peers, family, and media, to adopt culturally accepted body image ideals. These pressures lead to the internalization of these ideals, which are difficult to achieve, generating dissatisfaction with one’s own body image (Rodgers et al., 2020). Many studies have shown a positive relationship between time spent on social networks and one’s dissatisfaction with and concerns about physical appearance (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Griffiths et al., 2018; Holland & Tiggemann, 2016), in both males and females (Vries et al., 2016), through phenomena such as comparison of physical appearance and self-objectification (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Tiggemann & Slater, 2017). Self-objectification, a term proposed by Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) in their objectification theory, refers to how internalizing the external gaze of the body as an object is related to increased body dissatisfaction (Feltman & Szymanski, 2018). Social networks play a key role, as perceived evaluations of physical appearance reinforce the idea that only physical appearance matters (Caceres-Lembcke & Otoya, 2021). Studies indicate lower levels of self-objectification in males compared to females (Moradi & Huang, 2008), as social pressures related to thinness influence this process differentially depending on sex (Frederick et al., 2022). However, numerous studies show this sense of objectification in males, particularly during adolescence, due to exposure on social networks and media (Holland & Tiggemann, 2016; Karsay et al., 2018), which reinforces the need to achieve a muscular and strong physique (López-Cuautle et al., 2016; Orrit, 2019). In females, it is associated with the desire to be thin and a sexual connotation, when they are seen or considered as sexual objects (Karsay et al., 2018), which is also influenced by social networks, magazines, media, TV series, and music videos (Peek, 2019; Rodgers et al., 2019). In comparisons of various social media platforms, Instagram has been found to affect body image the most negatively, as much of its activity is based on evaluating one’s own and others’ physical appearance (Senín-Calderón et al., 2020). More than half of the world’s population (54%) currently have an Instagram account, of whom around two billion are monthly active profiles (Omnicore Agency, 2024) and are aged 18–24 (Statista, 2023). Their main use is to post and share photos and videos (DataReportal, 2024), and Instagram’s success and impact is measured by the number of “likes” and positive comments received. This type of activity has been shown to be specifically related to negative body image (Fardouly & Holland, 2018; Fardouly & Vartanian, 2016; Feltman & Szymanski, 2018; Slater et al., 2017; Wick & Keel, 2020). This is due not only to exposure to photographs of models or celebrities that meet the standards of the beauty ideal (Brown & Tiggemann, 2016), but also exposure to idealized images of peers (Fardouly & Holland, 2018). All of the above mentioned suggests the need for clinically useful tools to understand and identify the impact that the socio-cultural context has on the self-evaluation of physical appearance in the general Spanish population. Therefore, the present study aimed to validate the Spanish version of the BISS for the following specific objectives: (1) analyze the factorial structure in a Spanish sample, (2) examine measurement invariance across sex, (3) determine evidence of reliability and validity in relation to another scale, and (4) assess body image status through a task of exposure to attractive Instagram photographs, as well as to determine differences across sex. 1 3 Current Psychology Method Participants The sample consisted of 533 participants from western Andalusia (Spain) aged 18 to 35 years (M = 22.40, SD = 3.52). Of the total sample, 55.7% were female. The mean social class index (SCI) (Hollingshead, 1975), which is a social research measure used to classify and analyze the socioeconomic position of individuals in a sample, including income level, education level, and type of occupation, was 40.09 (SD = 17.32) (middle class). Body Mass Index (BMI) ranged from 15.43 to 48.44 (M = 23.45, SD = 4.27). Procedures The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusia Regional Government). Participants were recruited by snowball sampling from a group of undergraduate psychology students who were compensated with academic credit in one of their subjects. They were provided with an information sheet describing the study and an informed consent form that had to be filled out to participate. Participants who signed the consent form received an alphanumeric identification code and were invited to meet as a group in a university classroom, where they were provided with a web link to the assessment tests on computers available in the classroom. One hundred participants attended. Those who did not (n = 432) were sent the link by e-mail along with an instruction document for completing the tests. There were no differences in sociodemographic or clinical variables between participants who completed the tests at home and those who completed them in the classroom (see Supplementary Material). Prior to the completion of the tests, the entire sample was divided at random into two groups (control and experimental group). The random division of the sample was carried out with the software SPSS v.29. All participants answered questions on sociodemographic information and the Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ; Oosthuizen et al., 1998). The control group viewed 15 neutral photographs (landscapes, objects, buildings, etc.) taken from Instagram while the experimental group viewed 15 photographs of attractive people of the same sex. After each photo, they had to rate how attractive they found the photo (0 = not at all attractive to 5 = very attractive). Then, the participants completed the BISS (See Supplementary Material for photographs and further information on the procedure). Measures Basic sociodemographic information (designed by the authors). It consists of questions on participant sex, age, weight, height, profession and education. The Body Image States Scale (BISS; Cash et al., 2002) comprises six items, assessing the following six dimensions of body image experience: (1) dissatisfaction-satisfaction with overall physical appearance; (2) dissatisfaction-satisfaction with body size and shape; (3) dissatisfaction-satisfaction with weight; (4) feelings of attractiveness-unattractiveness; (5) current feelings about one’s appearance relative to how one usually feels; and, finally, (6) evaluation of one’s appearance relative to how the average person looks. It has a 9-point Likert-type response format with half of the items in the negative-positive direction and the other half in the positive-negative direction. Higher scores on the BISS indicate more favorable body image states. The authors of the questionnaire identified a single factor. A total score can be obtained by adding up the items. The authors found an internal consistency of α = 0.77 for females and α = 0.72 for males, test-retest reliability (at 2–3 weeks) of r = .69 for females and r = .68 for males (p < .001), and high correlations with scales assessing negative attitudes toward one’s body shape and weight, concerns about physical appearance, as well as alterations in body size perception, such as the BSQ (Cooper et al., 1987) and the EDE-Q (Fairburn & Beglin, 1994). Although a Spanish version of the questionnaire already existed (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019), it was decided to carry out a new translation into Spanish to ensure the cultural relevance and accuracy of the instrument in the specific context of the Spanish population. Permission was requested from the main author of the BISS to translate and validate the scale in the Spanish population. After the author’s approval, the guidelines proposed by Swami and Barron (2019) were followed for test translation and adaption. Two bilingual expert translators, one a native Spanish speaker and the other a native English speaker, familiar with both cultures, independently translated the scale into Spanish. They then discussed the discrepancies and arrived at a consensus version. Two other independent researchers translated this version from Spanish back into English and checked its correspondence with the original version. The translation of the scale was assessed by a committee of expert translators and the final version was generated and administered to a pilot sample of 34 psychology students who were asked about item comprehension, emotional impact, and acceptability. After analyzing the participants’ assessment and comments, the bilingual translators made some semantic adjustments, and this version was reviewed 1 3 Current Psychology in sex, context, and interaction effects were analyzed by one-factor analysis of variance with a 2 × 2 general linear model (GLM ANOVA). Statistical analyses were performed with FACTOR v.12.01.02, SPSS v.29 and Lisrel v. 8.7. Results Descriptive analysis of the BISS items The results of the descriptive analyses of the BISS items are shown in Table 1. The data did not follow a univariate normal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov p < .05). However, skewness and kurtosis did not exceed the recommended limits ± 2 (George & Mallery, 2006). Exploratory factor analysis The EFA was performed in Group 1 (n = 273) with the RDWLS estimation method, using the polychoric correlations matrix. The results were adequate for the KaiserMeyer-Olkin, KMO = 0.79 [95% CI = 0.74, 0.86], and Bartlett’s sphericity test, χ 2(15) = 709.8, p < .001. MSA values ranged from 0.759 to 0.842. Both parallel analysis (PA) based on minimum rank factor analysis and variance explained by eigenvalues recommended a unidimensional structure, explaining 56% of the variance. Communalities ranged from 0.32 to 0.80 and the factor loadings ranged from 0.44 (Item 2) to 0.83 (Item 1) Table 2. Confirmatory factor analysis CFA with RDWLS was performed with Group 2 (n = 260). The EFA suggested a one-factor model The results of the goodness-of-fit statistics were adequate. However, the RMSEA exceeded the recommended limit and the SRMR was slightly above the general parameters. These results are by two of the authors of the paper with English language skills, who gave their final approval. The Dysmorphic Concern Questionnaire (DCQ; Oosthuizen et al., 1998) assesses dysmorphic concern as a symptom without seeking to establish a diagnosis of body dysmorphic disorder. The Spanish version by Senín-Calderón et al. (2017) was used. The scale comprises seven items with a Likert-type response format ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (much more than most people). The DCQ is a unidimensional measure. The authors found an internal consistency range of α = 0.80 to α = 0.88, and a test-retest reliability (one-month interval) of r = .87. In the Spanish population, the internal consistency was α = 0.85 and the test-retest reliability at one-month interval was r = .87 (Senín-Calderón et al., 2017). With the sample in this study, Cronbach’s α was = 0.85. Statistical analysis Descriptive analyses of the BISS questionnaire items were performed. The total sample was divided at random into two groups for cross-validation. Before performing the corresponding analyses, the two groups were checked for equivalence of sociodemographic variables (i.e., sex, age, BMI, and SCI) and global BISS measurements (see Table 2 in the Supplementary Material). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed of Group 1 for evidence of construct validity. With the structure found, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was done with Group 2, using the Robust Diagonally Weighted Least Squares (RDWLS) estimation method with the asymptotic covariance matrix. The goodness-of-fit tests calculated were: the SatorraBentler Chi-square (2), comparative fit index (CFI), and non-normalized fit index (NNFI), which must have scores above 0.90. Additionally, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) with a 90% confidence interval; and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), which must have a result under 0.08 to be considered acceptable (Hu & Bentler, 1999). Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, McDonald’s Ω and the intraclass correlation index was calculated. Evidence based on relations with other variables was assessed using Spearman’s correlations of the DCQ total score and BMI. Finally, measurement invariance across sex was analyzed in a multigroup CFA. Model fit was assessed by ΔCFI and ΔRMSEA. Invariance was considered to be present if ΔCFI were ≤ 0.01 and ΔRMSEA ≤ 0.015 (Chen, 2007). Differences Table 1 Descriptive statistics of Body Image States Scale (BISS) items Items M (SD) Asymmetry Kurtosis 1 5.4 (2.0) −0.24 −1.00 2 5.2 (2.1) −0.07 −1.10 3 5.1 (2.3) −0.02 −1.21 4 5.2 (2.0) −0.31 −0.78 5 5.1 (1.6) −0.02 0.58 6 4.9 (1.7) −0.18 −0.14 Total BISS 5.1 (1.4) −0.19 −0.08 Note. BISS Body Image States Scale, M mean, SD standard deviation Table 2 BISS Goodness-of-fit indices SB χ 2 df CFI RMSEA [90% CI] NNFI SRMR Group 2 (n = 260) 40.35 9 0.97 0.12 [0.08, 0.15] 0.95 0.14 Note. SB χ 2: Satorra-Bentler Chi Square, CFI Comparative Fix Index, RMSEA Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, NNFI Non-Normed Fix Index, SRMR Standardized Root Mean Square Residual 1 3 Current Psychology thresholds, the model remained stable, indicating that the scores of the two groups were comparable. These results support BISS measurement invariance across sex. Evaluation of differences across sex on the BISS and its sensitivity to context For sex comparisons by experimental vs. control context, a 2 (sex) x 2 (type of context: control vs. experimental) one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. Table 4 shows the means and standard deviations of the BISS scores of males and females by context. The results showed that the participants in the experimental group evaluated their physical appearance worse after viewing photographs of young people considered attractive. Males and females rated their physical appearance in a similar manner. A summary of the analyses, including the interaction, can be found in Table 4. Discussion The main objectives of this study were to validate the BISS in a Spanish population and analyze the evidence of reliability and validity based on relations with other variables, including the assessment of its sensitivity to context after experimental exposure to photographs from Instagram. The first specific objective focused on analyzing the factor structure of the BISS in a Spanish sample. CFA results showed that goodness-of-fit indicators of the BISS ’s unidimensional structure were adequate. This structure is in line with the one found by the authors of the BISS (Cash et al., 2002) and the Colombian validation (Mebarak-Chams et al., common for models with small degrees of freedom (Kenny et al., 2015). Fully standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.57 to 0.91, with the lowest factor loading on Item 2 and the highest on Item 1. Evidence of reliability and evidence based on relations with other variables Evidence of reliability was found for the BISS items, with McDonald’s Ω = 0.82 and Cronbach’s α = 0.81. The intraclass correlation index was 0.81, 95% CI [0.78 to 0.83]. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient was calculated to analyze evidence based on relations with other variables. Total BISS correlations DCQand BMI were negative (r = − .40 and r = − .23, respectively), indicating that participants who were more satisfied with their physical appearance had lower scores on dysmorphic concerns and lower BMI. Measurement invariance across sex Sex invariance analyses were carried out on the unidimensional model suggested by the EFA. The model was first estimated separately for each group (males and females). Model fit was reasonable, although the RMSEA was slightly higher than recommended. The configural invariance model fit the data well, suggesting that the unidimensional structure was equivalent in both groups. As seen in Table 3, when equality restrictions were imposed on the factor loadings to test for metric invariance, the model showed no misfit (ΔCFI < 0.01 and ΔRMSEA < 0.15), suggesting that the magnitude of the factor loadings for the two groups were statistically equivalent. At the next level of invariance (scalar), when equality constraints were imposed on the factor loadings and item Table 3 BISS measurement invariance across sex Model SBχ2df CFI NNFI ΔCFI RMSEA [90% CI] ΔRMSEA Males 32.30* 9 0.95 0.92 0.10 [0.67, 0.15] Females 44.90* 9 0.97 0.96 0.11 [0.08, 0.15] Configural invariance 77.19* 18 0.97 0.95 0.11 [0.09, 0.14] Metric invariance 83.22* 23 0.97 0.96 0.00 0.10 [0.07, 0.12] 0.01 Scalar invariance 85.26* 29 0.97 0.97 0.00 0.09 [0.07, 0.11] 0.01 Note. BISS Body Image States Scale, SBχ2, Satorra-Bentler chi square, df degrees of freedom, CFI Comparative Fix Index, NNFI Non-Normed Fix Index, RMSEA Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, CI Confidence Interval Table 4 Means, standard deviations, and mean difference in influence of sex and context Variables Female M(SD) Male M(SD) F(1,531) pPartial eta squared Ω2 Experimental 4.9 (1.4) 5.1 (1.3) 4.71 0.003 Control 5.2 (1.4) 5.5 (1.3) Sex 3.64 0.057 0.007 0.005 Context 10.45 0.001 0.019 0.017 Sex*context < 0.001 0.984 0.000 0.002 Sample size. Female experimental group (n = 153); Female control group (n = 144); Male experimental group (n = 118); Male control group (n = 117) 1 3 Current Psychology physical appearance worse after viewing Instagram photographs of young men rated as attractive. According to the tripartite influence model by Thompson et al. (1999), this result suggests that recurrent consumption of social network content, where the importance of physical beauty is salient, could be related to greater body dissatisfaction, possibly due to the intensification of social comparison processes and enhanced internalization of the beauty ideal. Other studies have already pointed out the association of social networking with body image distortion (Alsaidan et al., 2020) and development of eating problems (Griffiths et al., 2018), such as increased binge eating and bulimic symptoms more broadly (Smith et al., 2013). Other studies specifically analyzing the effect of Instagram exposure on body image have not shown conclusive data. On the one hand, Kleemans et al. (2018) found that exposure to edited Instagram photos impaired participant body image perception, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with their body size and shape, weight, feelings of unattractiveness, negative feelings towards their body, and comparisons of their appearance to that of an average person. However, Muñoz-Parralo and Gómez-Bujedo (2023) concluded that such exposure did not have a negative effect on body image perception. This disparity of results could be due to the selection of the stimuli in our experimental design, as well as to the sociodemographic differences of the sample. It should be noted that our sample was more diverse in terms of age, sex, and study variables than that of previous studies, and these differences may create complex effects that are not evident in more homogeneous samples. The results of this study did not show differences between males and females by evaluation context. These results differ from other studies which did reflect greater susceptibility of females to body image dysphoric states (Cash et al., 2002). In the Colombian validation (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019), participants were not exposed to any situational context. They found that the mean score for males was higher than the mean score for females on the BISS. In the research by Cash et al. (2002), females were more dissatisfied than males with their physical appearance. However, Cash et al. (2002) did not expose participants to photographs, but the latter were asked to imagine that they were in a specific situation (positive or negative) and then to answer the BISS questionnaire. The two negative situations were a day at the beach in a bathing suit and being alone in a room reading a same-sex fashion and fitness magazine. These differences between the results found in our study with respect to that of Cash et al. (2002) and Mebarak-Chams et al. (2019), could therefore be due to differences in experimental design, cultural differences, and internalization of the current beauty ideal of both males and females. Cultural norms and perceptions of beauty and body image vary between the two cultural contexts 2019). In the validations in the remaining languages (German, Italian, Dutch, and French), the factor structure was not analyzed. The second specific objective of this study was to analyze whether the scores of the BISS questionnaire are invariant across sex. The invariance analysis indicated that the BISS is an instrument that can be used for males or females indifferently without influencing response to the scale. These results differ from those of the Colombian validation (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019) where the invariance assumption was not met. The next objective was to analyze the psychometric properties of the BISS. The internal consistency of the Spanish version of the BISS was adequate. In fact, it was even higher than in the original version of the BISS, which had a Cronbach’s α of.62 to 0.77 in the neutral condition (Cash et al., 2002). However, the Colombian validation obtained superior evidence of reliability (α = 0.92; McDonald’s ω = 0.93). A negative association between the BISS and BMI was observed, as also shown in other studies (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019; Weinberger et al., 2016). Participants with a higher BMI indicated greater dissatisfaction with their physical appearance at the time of assessment. However, this correlation was lower than in the original publication of the BISS (Cash et al., 2002) or in the Colombian version (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019). This could be explained by sociocultural differences since body satisfaction is influenced by pressure exerted by the media, internalization of the beauty ideal, as well as cultural parameters of what is attractive and the most appropriate body shape (Gattario & Frisén, 2019). Furthermore, self-reported BMI can be biased by random errors due to social desirability bias (Gorber et al., 2007) and self-report bias (Dekkers et al., 2008). Consequently, these biases often lead to accuracy errors, such as an underestimation of BMI values, especially when BMI is higher (Stommel & Schoenborn, 2009), or to the provision of inaccurate data. Moreover, evidence based on relations with other variables was found with an instrument measuring dysmorphic concerns. The data showed that body-state dissatisfaction as assessed by the BISS was associated with body-trait dissatisfaction as assessed by the DCQ scale. These results are similar to those found in the Colombian validation (Mebarak-Chams et al., 2019), where a positive association was found between body dissatisfaction (BISS) and body imagerelated psychopathology (BSQ). The last objective was to assess whether an experimental context, in which either photographs of attractive people or a neutral content were viewed, could influence self-appraisal of physical appearance. We also wanted to find out whether men and women were equally affected by the experimental context. The data showed that participants rated their 1 3 Current Psychology obesity and a group without eating problems should also be explored. Clinical and research implications In Spain, there are several instruments available for trait body image assessment; however, there is no self-report measure validated in a Spanish sample that assesses contextdependent body image. This is relevant, not only to provide new instruments for the assessment of body image, but also because of its versatility for research on this topic, making it a significant contribution. This study had a large sample favoring generalization of results. The BISS will help Spanish-speaking health professionals and researchers to quickly assess short-term changes in the self-evaluation of one’s physical appearance, allowing for more personalized interventions and the exploration of contextual factors influencing body image. Moreover, its validation enables crosscultural comparisons and longitudinal studies, enhancing both clinical practice and scientific understanding of body image dynamics in different contexts. Conclusion The BISS is a brief measure with sufficient empirical support to assess context-dependent body image for both males and females. Using the BISS, an increase in dissatisfaction with one’s physical appearance was detected after exposure to photographs of males and females who meet current beauty ideals. This result highlights the need for a Spanish language instrument with psychometric guarantees for assessing the impact of exposure to situations where the body is the object of attention. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 2 1 4 4 - 0 2 4 - 0 7 2 4 5 - 1 . Funding Funding for open access publishing: Universidad de Cádiz/ CBUA. Declarations Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted (Vázquez-Miraz, 2019). Furthermore, the time gap between Cash’s original research (2002) and ours is over 20 years, meaning that the beauty ideal may have changed between the studies (Dimitrov & Kroumpouzos, 2023). Limitations and future research This study had some limitations that must be taken into account when drawing conclusions. Given the size of the sample, only one group of participants could be evaluated in the presence of the researchers, and the test conditions of the group that was not could not be controlled. However, after performing the relevant comparisons of means, no significant differences were found in either assessment tests or sociodemographic characteristics, thus the results are comparable even though the assessment context was not controlled. Since the tests were only administered at a specific time, the test-retest reliability of the instrument could not be assessed. It would be necessary to analyze the stability of the measure over time. Furthermore, we did not assess differences between body image state and trait, nor did we compare differences in body image-state between experimental and everyday life situations. Future research should address whether the body image-state is influenced by everyday situations in the same way as has been demonstrated in experimental conditions. Another possible limitation is that the photographs selected were based on the evaluators’ subjective perception of what they considered the Western European beauty ideal. Such an ideal is very general and need not coincide with personal tastes. Future research could select photographs according to the preferences of the test taker using artificial intelligence. This would overcome the limitation that the selection of photographs does not adjust to personal, cultural, and contextual tastes. Our study provides information on the psychometric properties of the BISS instrument, but further studies are recommended for more accurate, optimal body image assessment. We were unable to corroborate the convergent validity of the BISS, since we did not administer any alternative measures of body image-state. A measure assessing positive body image should also be administered in addition. This would allow the body image construct to be assessed dimensionally. In addition, since the information was collected with selfreport measures, the data may have been biased, especially weight and height. For future studies, we recommend that the self-report assessment be complemented with an implicit body image assessment. 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