A Quantitative Study of the Developmental Theory of Embodiment: Implications to Health and Well-Being

This study involved the first quantitative testing of the Developmental Theory of Embodiment (DTE), developed by Piran and colleagues, through the Embodiment Scales for Women (ESW). The ESW includes one scale that assesses the quality of a woman's experience of inhabiting her body as she engaged with the world, namely: the Experience of Embodiment (EE) scale, as well as three scales of social experiences theorized to impact embodiment: Physical Freedom (PF), Mental Freedom (MF) and Social Power (SP). Social experience scales involved a retrospective rating for Childhood and Adolescence, as well as an Adulthood rating, and EE was assessed only for Adulthood. A sample of 412 women, aged 18-45 years, completed the study. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were conducted to assess the dimensionality of the scales and correlation and regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship and relative contribution of the social domain scales to EE. Reliability, in terms of internal consistency, as well as construct validity of the ESW was also assessed to further provide evidence of the scale's psychometric properties. As predicted, EFA for all scales demonstrated the multi-dimensional nature of the ESW, with factors similar to domains produced in previous qualitative work on the DTE. Further, as predicted, correlations between social domain scales, and each social domain scale with EE, were significant. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses found that, when each social domain scale was assessed independently by developmental periods, only the Adult scale was a significant predictor of EE. Further, as predicted, when each social domain Adult scale was assessed together in a simultaneous multiple regression, all were significant predictors of EE. Cronbach's alpha and Pearson correlations with additional measures of well-being supported the ESW's reliability and construct validity. Taken together, results generally support predictions made by the DTE. Theoretical innovations and clinical implications are discussed.Ph.D