Data from: "ABC" - the Awareness-Body-Chart: a New Tool Assessing Body Awareness

Background: Despite the importance of body awareness for health and
well-being there is still a lack of valid assessment tools to scan proper
body awareness. To respond to the limitations of questionnaires
(reading/interpretation problems of subjects) the Awareness-Body-Chart
(ABC) was designed to assess body awareness by colouring 51 regions
according to their awareness. The objective of this study was to
investigate the psychometric characteristics of the ABC. Methods: In a
questionnaire-study, 106 students in Graz (79 females, 27 males, age
median 21 (IQR 20 - 23) years) filled in the ABC, furthermore a German
body awareness questionnaire „KEKS", and the Beck Depression
Inventory II. Factor structure, internal consistency, and retest
reliability of the ABC were investigated. Correlations of the ABC with the
KEKS and the Beck Depression Inventory II and comparisons of subgroups
were conducted. Results: Through factor analyses, 14 factors with clear
assignments to body parts could be categorized: cranium, face,
cervical/lumbar region, chest/abdomen, back, shoulder, upper arm, lower
arm/elbow, hand, genital area, thigh/hip, knee, lower leg, and foot. The
14 body parts and the total score showed acceptable to high
Cronbach's alphas (α = .64 - .97). The test-retest reliability showed
values between ρ = .71 and ρ = .96. The correlation of the ABC and KEKS (r
= .66, p < .001) confirmed validity. Further indications of
validity could be seen in comparisons of subgroups and in correlations
with the Beck Depression Inventory II. Conclusion: The ABC proved good
psychometric properties with acceptable to high internal consistency,
acceptable to high retest reliability and high construct validity. It is
an easy-to-use tool for clinical settings and research. The ABC opens new
insights into body awareness-patterns of various subgroups.