Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI): creation and validation of the Polish language version

INTRODUCTION: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a disabling mental disorder characterized by preoccupation with appearance concerns. Due to lack of awareness of BDD among medical professionals and a limited number of proper diagnostic tools, the diagnosis is frequently missed. Among sparse diagnostic instruments, there is Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI), which was developed not only to search for BDD symptoms, but also to assess the progress of patients throughout the therapy. AIM: To translate and validate the Polish version of AAI. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Both forward and backward translation of the original English version of AAI questionnaire was performed in accordance with international standards. The validation of AAI was conducted on 49 individuals. They completed the questionnaires twice with a 3–6 days’ interval. Moreover, the subjects were also asked to fill the Polish versions of COPS (Cosmetic Procedure Screening Questionnaire) and RSES (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale) for the convergent validity. RESULTS: The Polish version of AAI demonstrated very good internal consistency (Cronbach α coefficient value of 0.91) and good reproducibility (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.78). Convergent validity indicated a strong correlation between AAI and COPS and a strong negative correlation between AAI and RSES (r = 0.67, p < 0.0001 and r = –0.57, p < 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the AAI questionnaire showed sufficient or better psychometric properties to support its use in clinical and research work with Polish speakers.