Brief report: Assessment of body image in survivors of childhood cancer

Objective: To establish preliminary reliability and validity data of the Bo dy Image Instrument (BII), a 28-item self-report measure developed to asses s body image in adolescents and young adults with cancer. Method: As part of a larger study assessing long-term adjustment in survivo rs of childhood cancer, 40 males and 27 females (mean age = 19.69 years, SD = 3.87) completed the BII and two validation measures: the SF-36 health su rvey and the Perceived Illness Experience measure. Results: The five BII subscales-General Appearance, Body Competence, Others ' Reaction to Appearance, Value of Appearance, and Body Parts-exhibited mod erate to high internal reliability and concurrent validity. No significant sex differences in body image emerged, nor was age at diagnosis or time sin ce diagnosis significantly correlated with body image. Conclusions: The measure may be of value in clinical settings, where it cou ld be used to identify adjustment problems related to body image disturbanc e in pediatric cancer patients.