Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI)
Abstract Background Weight stigma is pervasive, and it has a significant impact on the social, physical, and psychological health of an individual. Weight stigma is observed from several different sources. Therefore, the present study developed and validated a new instrument, the Weight Stigma Expos...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Eating Disorders |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01168-9 |
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| author | Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr I-Hua Chen Iqbal Pramukti Po-Ching Huang Janet D. Latner Kerry S. O’Brien Xuelian Wang Jung-Sheng Chen Servet Üztemur Chien-Chin Lin Yen-Ling Chang Wei-Leng Chin Mark D. Griffiths Chung-Ying Lin |
| author_facet | Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr I-Hua Chen Iqbal Pramukti Po-Ching Huang Janet D. Latner Kerry S. O’Brien Xuelian Wang Jung-Sheng Chen Servet Üztemur Chien-Chin Lin Yen-Ling Chang Wei-Leng Chin Mark D. Griffiths Chung-Ying Lin |
| author_sort | Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Weight stigma is pervasive, and it has a significant impact on the social, physical, and psychological health of an individual. Weight stigma is observed from several different sources. Therefore, the present study developed and validated a new instrument, the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI), to assess different sources of observed weight stigma across interpersonal and non-interpersonal sources. Methods The participants (n = 15,991) comprised Taiwanese young adults, Chinese adolescents, and Chinese young adults who completed paper-and-pencil and online surveys between September 2023 and December 2023. All participants provided demographic information, and completed the WeSEI, Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ), and Perceived Weight Stigmatization Scale (PWSS). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to examine the factor structure of the WeSEI. Results EFA and CFA results confirmed a seven-factor structure (television sources, traditional media sources, social media sources, parent sources, stranger sources, significant other sources, and friends sources) across 35 items of the WeSEI. Moreover, the WeSEI was supported by measurement invariance across subgroups (i.e., subsamples, gender, and weight status). Moreover, there were positive correlations between all seven factors of the WeSEI and the WSSQ and PWSS. Conclusion The WeSEI appears to assess observed weight stigma from different sources, and had good reliability, validity, and invariance across various subsamples. The WeSEI may be useful in clinical practice and research for assessing exposure to weight stigma from different sources. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-38d9bbab3d0e4e9199b316ce9b2d735e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-2974 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Eating Disorders |
| spelling | doaj-art-38d9bbab3d0e4e9199b316ce9b2d735e2025-01-12T12:04:36ZengBMCJournal of Eating Disorders2050-29742025-01-0113111710.1186/s40337-024-01168-9Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI)Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr0I-Hua Chen1Iqbal Pramukti2Po-Ching Huang3Janet D. Latner4Kerry S. O’Brien5Xuelian Wang6Jung-Sheng Chen7Servet Üztemur8Chien-Chin Lin9Yen-Ling Chang10Wei-Leng Chin11Mark D. Griffiths12Chung-Ying Lin13Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung UniversityQufu Normal University, Chinese Academy of Education Big DataFaculty of Nursing, Universitas PadjadjaranSchool of Physical Therapy, Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung UniversityDepartment of Psychology, University of Hawaii at ManoaFaculty of Arts, School of Social Sciences, Monash UniversityYancheng Mechatronic Branch of Jiangsu Union Technical InstituteDepartment of Medical Research, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou UniversityDepartment of Turkish and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, Anadolu UniversityDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University HospitalDepartment of Family Medicine, Cardinal Tien HospitalDepartment of Family Medicine, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou UniversityInternational Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent UniversityInstitute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung UniversityAbstract Background Weight stigma is pervasive, and it has a significant impact on the social, physical, and psychological health of an individual. Weight stigma is observed from several different sources. Therefore, the present study developed and validated a new instrument, the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI), to assess different sources of observed weight stigma across interpersonal and non-interpersonal sources. Methods The participants (n = 15,991) comprised Taiwanese young adults, Chinese adolescents, and Chinese young adults who completed paper-and-pencil and online surveys between September 2023 and December 2023. All participants provided demographic information, and completed the WeSEI, Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ), and Perceived Weight Stigmatization Scale (PWSS). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to examine the factor structure of the WeSEI. Results EFA and CFA results confirmed a seven-factor structure (television sources, traditional media sources, social media sources, parent sources, stranger sources, significant other sources, and friends sources) across 35 items of the WeSEI. Moreover, the WeSEI was supported by measurement invariance across subgroups (i.e., subsamples, gender, and weight status). Moreover, there were positive correlations between all seven factors of the WeSEI and the WSSQ and PWSS. Conclusion The WeSEI appears to assess observed weight stigma from different sources, and had good reliability, validity, and invariance across various subsamples. The WeSEI may be useful in clinical practice and research for assessing exposure to weight stigma from different sources.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01168-9AdolescentsYoung adultsInterpersonal sourcesMedia sourcesWeight stigma sources |
| spellingShingle | Kamolthip Ruckwongpatr I-Hua Chen Iqbal Pramukti Po-Ching Huang Janet D. Latner Kerry S. O’Brien Xuelian Wang Jung-Sheng Chen Servet Üztemur Chien-Chin Lin Yen-Ling Chang Wei-Leng Chin Mark D. Griffiths Chung-Ying Lin Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) Journal of Eating Disorders Adolescents Young adults Interpersonal sources Media sources Weight stigma sources |
| title | Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) |
| title_full | Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) |
| title_fullStr | Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) |
| title_short | Assessing exposure to weight stigma: development and initial validation of the Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) |
| title_sort | assessing exposure to weight stigma development and initial validation of the weight stigma exposure inventory wesei |
| topic | Adolescents Young adults Interpersonal sources Media sources Weight stigma sources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-024-01168-9 |
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