Weight Stigma among Young Adults in Thailand: Reliability, Validation, and Measurement Invariance of the Thai-Translated Weight Self Stigma Questionnaire and Perceived Weight Stigma Scale

Paratthakonkun Chirawat; Ruckwongpatr Kamolthip; Rattana Rattaprach; Siti R Nadhiroh; Serene En Hui Tung; Wan Ying Gan; Meephiam Pinyo; Teosagul Nabpran; Kaitlin N Rozzell-Voss; Janet D Latner; Chung-Ying Lin

doi:10.3390/ijerph192315868

Weight Stigma among Young Adults in Thailand: Reliability, Validation, and Measurement Invariance of the Thai-Translated Weight Self Stigma Questionnaire and Perceived Weight Stigma Scale

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 29;19(23):15868. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192315868.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Sports Science and Technology, Mahidol University, Sala Ya, Phutthamonthon, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
² Institute of Allied Health Sciences, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70142, Taiwan.
³ Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Indonesia.
⁴ Division of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia.
⁶ Department of Forensic Science, Royal Police Cadet Academy, Nakhon Pathom 73110, Thailand.
⁷ Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Songkhla Rajabhat University, Songkhla 90000, Thailand.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
⁹ Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70142, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70142, Taiwan.
¹¹ Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70142, Taiwan.

Abstract

The previous studies found that the Weight Self Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ) and Perceived Weight Stigma Scale (PWSS) have shown well-established psychometric properties for measuring weight stigma with strong reliability and validity from different languages. However, there is a lack of an appropriate instrument in assessing weight stigma in Thai samples. This study aimed to examine the Thai WSSQ and PWSS among Thai university students. Both instruments were also assessed for their measurement invariance across gender and weight status subgroups. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 801 university students in Thailand between January 2022 and July 2022. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a Thai version of the WSSQ, PWSS, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) via an online survey. Reliability, validity, measurement invariance, and correlational analyses were performed to investigate whether the Thai versions of the WSSQ and PWSS psychometric properties were acceptable. Both translated questionnaires demonstrated overall acceptable psychometric properties and revealed a two-dimensional structure for the WSSQ, and unidimensional structure for the PWSS. Measurement invariance was obtained across gender and weight status subgroups. Additionally, both translated WSSQ and PWSS were significantly correlated with DASS-21. The Thai-translated WSSQ and PWSS showed strong validity, reliability, and factorial invariance across different subgroups for measuring weight stigma among Thai university students.

Keywords: measurement invariance; obesity; psychometrics; weight stigma; young adults.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Psychometrics / methods
Reproducibility of Results
Southeast Asian People
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thailand
Weight Prejudice*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 110-2410-H-006-115), the Higher Education Sprout Project, Ministry of Education to the Headquarters of University Advancement at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), and the 2021 Southeast and South Asia and Taiwan Universities Joint Research Scheme (NCKU 31).