The Breast Appreciation Scale: An examination of its psychometric properties in French-Canadian women

Scholars are increasingly focused on women’s positive, embodied “breasted experienced”, which includes breast appreciation. This positive body image facet is assessed using the 9-item Breast Appreciation Scale (BrAS; Swami et al., 2022), but assessments of its psychometric properties in diverse cultural communities are limited. Here, we report on the translation and validation of a French translation of the BrAS in French-Canadian women. A sample of 365 women from Quebec, Canada, completed the French BrAS alongside additional measures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in two split-half subsamples identified a stable unidimensional model of the BrAS, with six of the nine original items retained. This BrAS model was fully invariant across both split-half subsamples and showed no evidence of differential item functioning in relation to participant age. Latent breast appreciation also evidenced strong composite reliability, as well as adequate convergent and concurrent validity. Specifically, greater breast appreciation was associated with higher overall body appreciation, lower breast size dissatisfaction, better psychological well-being and lower distress, and lower disordered eating patterns. While the present results provide initial psychometric support for the BrAS in French-Canadian women, more work can be done to confirm and extend our findings. • French version of Breast Appreciation Scale (BrAS) is unidimensional in French-Canadian women • The unidimensional French-Canadian version retains six of the nine original BrAS items • BrAS was completely invariant across two split-half subsamples in present study • BrAS showed a lack of differential item functioning based on age • Results also supported convergent and concurrent validity of BrAS in French-Canadian women