The body appreciation Scale-2 for Autistic adults (BAS-2A): Psychometric properties in autistic gender diverse and transgender adults from four english-speaking, Western countries

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Longhurst, P., White, L. C., & Swami, V. (2026). The body appreciation Scale-2 for Autistic adults (BAS-2A): Psychometric properties in autistic gender diverse and transgender adults from four english-speaking, Western countries. Body Image, 58, 102154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2026.102154

Publication date: 25 Jul 2026 Added to AutiHub: 28 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)

Abstract

The Body Appreciation Scale-2A (BAS-2A) is a measure for capturing a core facet of positive body image in the adult Autistic population. Preliminary evidence suggests body appreciation may foster physical and psychological well-being among Autistic people who are also transgender or gender diverse (TGD); however, to date, the scale has not been validated within this group. To address this, we evaluated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the BAS-2A in Autistic TGD people. A total of 191 Autistic TGD people (aged 18-85 years) from Western countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) completed the BAS-2A along with additional measures of physical well-being and eating disorder symptomatology. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 12-item, unidimensional structure of the BAS-2A in the total sample. The BAS-2A also demonstrated excellent composite reliability. Evidence of convergent, concurrent, discriminant, and incremental validity was strong when using both observed and latent scores. Body appreciation was significantly associated with higher self-compassion, self-esteem, and quality of life, and lower eating disorder symptomatology. Overall, our results suggest that the BAS-2A is a valid and reliable measure for capturing body appreciation among Autistic TGD people. The present study offers a valuable contribution toward a better understanding of positive body image in the wider Autistic population.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
70
With a DOI
60
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
10
11 / 70 (15.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
4 / 70 (5.7%)
References with detected author names
66 / 70 (94.3%)
Without detected author names
4
Without a structured title
4
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
4
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
504
From DOI or external metadata
504
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
11
104 / 504 (20.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 400 / 504 (79.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
18 / 504 (3.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 18 / 104 (17.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 14 / 467 (3.0%).
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