The Body Parts Dissatisfaction Scale (BPDS) to assess bodily discontent in a manner that we believed might be more sensitive to middle-school girls’ experiences of their bodies. In particular, we sought use of a measure that lists body parts in concrete terms but does not prompt responses along a satisfaction–dissatisfaction continuum, as is common among measures of this type. We reasoned that girls of this age may not see themselves (yet) as part of the body dissatisfied norm and we hoped to avoid invoking response bias toward endorsing dissatisfaction (if, perhaps, it might seem more womanly or ‘‘grown-up’’ to convey such dissatisfaction).

The BPDS was constructed such that it lists 7 body parts and asks whether there is a desire to change any part. The respondent is instructed to place a check mark next to any and all body parts she would like to change, and then to indicate via a checkmark whether she wishes the part were smaller or bigger. Any item not checked indicates that the respondent does not wish for it to be smaller or bigger, presumably conveying contentment with that body part.