The Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS) was originally conceived as a trait measure assessed by a unidimensional, 12-item scale (Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989). While the original version of the SPAS has been used in many different research settings to further understanding of the causes and consequences of social physique anxiety, the SPAS itself has also been the subject of a number of research studies and other academic investigations. Eklund, Mack, and Hart (1996) suggested that the SPAS may actually be multidimensional rather than unidimensional in nature, consisting of two first-order factors subordinate to one second-order factor. They believed that the first factor represented "physique presentation comfort," and the second factor represented "expectations of negative physique presentation evaluation." The appropriateness of specific scale items has also been questioned. For example, Eklund, Kelley, and Wilson (1997) posited that Item 2 -- i.e., "I would never worry about wearing clothes that might make me look too thin or overweight" -- did not work equally well for both genders. Other researchers (Martin et al., 1997; Wilson & Batterham, 1999) questioned the inclusion of other items. Martin et al. (1997) deleted three items, and on the basis of a series of confirmatory factor analyses, they recommended that the resulting 9-item version of the SPAS was indeed unidimensional and more conceptually clear than the original 12-item SPAS. Motl and Conroy (2000) also examined the question of multidimensionality of the original 12-item SPAS. They, however, concluded that the appearance of two factors in the original SPAS was a methodological artifact caused by the combination of positively- and negatively-worded items. They also suggested a further improvement by reducing the 9-item SPAS to a 7-item instrument. Each of these versions of the SPAS -- i.e., the 12-item, 9-item, and 7-item scales -- continues to be investigated and validated for various populations. Clearly, researchers are intrigued with the question of how best to measure the fascinating body image / self-presentation construct of "social physique anxiety."