The 16-item Male Body Talk Scale (MBT scale; Sladek et al., 2014) assesses the frequency with which men engage in negatively valenced body-related conversations with others. The MBT scale can be administered online or in-person with adolescents and adults and is free to use in any setting. This chapter first discusses the development of the MBT scale and then provides evidence regarding the measure’s psychometric properties. Specifically, research using the MBT scale has found evidence for a correlated two-factor structure (e.g., “Muscle Talk,” “Fat Talk”) identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with samples including male-identifying young adult college students and adults (ages 18-65), along with scalar (i.e., strong) invariance across three ethnic groups (Asian, Latino, and White) of male-identifying college students. Internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and incremental validity support the use of the MBT scale. Next, this chapter provides the MBT scale items, instructions for administering the measure to participants, the item response scale, and the scoring procedure. The measure has been translated from English into Chinese (Mandarin) and administered with evidence of reliability and validity. Provided for readers also are logistics of use, such as permissions, copyright, and citation information.

The 16-item Male Body Talk Scale (MBT scale; Sladek et al., 2014) assesses the frequency with which men engage in negatively valenced body-related conversations with others. The MBT scale can be administered online or in-person with adolescents and adults and is free to use in any setting. This chapter first discusses the development of the MBT scale and then provides evidence regarding the measure’s psychometric properties. Specifically, research using the MBT scale has found evidence for a correlated two-factor structure (e.g., “Muscle Talk,” “Fat Talk”) identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with samples including male-identifying young adult college students and adults (ages 18-65), along with scalar (i.e., strong) invariance across three ethnic groups (Asian, Latino, and White) of male-identifying college students. Internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and incremental validity support the use of the MBT scale. Next, this chapter provides the MBT scale items, instructions for administering the measure to participants, the item response scale, and the scoring procedure. The measure has been translated from English into Chinese (Mandarin) and administered with evidence of reliability and validity. Provided for readers also are logistics of use, such as permissions, copyright, and citation information.