Body Cathexis-Self Cathexis (BCSC) Scale
Description: A domain specific measure of subjective well-being that assesses the degree of a person’s satisfaction with various parts or processes of the body.
Format: 46 items ranked on a five-point scale:
1 = Have strong feelings and wish change could somehow be made
2 = Don’t like but can put up with
3 = Have no particular feelings one way or the other
4 = Am satisfied
5 = Consider myself fortunate.
Scoring: Each item is assigned a score equal to the rating assigned to it. Higher scores indicate greater body satisfaction. An overall score is achieved by summing the items and dividing the total score by 46.
Administration and Burden: Interviewer-administered; Self-administered. Approximately 15-20 minutes.
Psychometrics for SCI: Not available; The published norms for this measure are based on a sample of men and women college students, and the split-half reliability coefficients are satisfactory at 0.83. Although the BSCS is a valid and reliable measure used in the body image literature [1], which has been used with clinical populations such as multiple sclerosis [2], it has not been widely used with or validated for the spinal cord injury (SCI) population.
Language(s): English.
QoL Concept: The BSCS is a measure of Subjective Well-Being, which corresponds to Box E (subjective evaluations and reactions; self-esteem) of Dijker’s Model.
Permissions/Where to Obtain: Public Domain; The BSCS can be obtained from the article:
**CLICK ON THE LISTED SECONDARY HEALTH CONDITIONS ON THE RIGHT TO READ HOW THE BCSC SCALE HAS BEEN USED WITH A PARTICULAR CONDITION**
References:
- Hammond SM, O’Rourke MM. A psychometric investigation into the body-cathexis scale Personality Ind Diff 1984;5:603-5
- Taleporos G, McCabe MP. The impact of physical disability on body esteem. Sex Disabil 2004;19:293-308.