Silva Wanderson Roberto da, Santana Moema de Souza, Maroco João, Maloa Benvindo Felismino Samuel, Campos Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini
Department of Food and Nutrition of College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
Department William James Center for Research (WJCR), University Institute of Psychological, Social, and Life Sciences (ISPA), Lisbon, Portugal.
PLoS One. 2017 Jul 7;12(7):e0180125. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180125. eCollection 2017.
Body weight concerns are common among individuals with eating disorders, and this construct can be assessed using psychometric instruments. The Weight Concerns Scale (WCS) is commonly used to assess body weight concerns.
To evaluate the psychometric properties of the WCS with Brazilian, Portuguese, and Mozambican female college students; to estimate body weight concerns; and to identify factors related to eating disorders.
Confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Factorial, convergent, concurrent, and divergent validity, as well as reliability, were assessed. Cross-national invariance was tested by means of multigroup analysis. Structural models were tested using the WCS as the dependent variable, while demographic and academic variables and body mass index were used as independent variables. Logistic models were tested to estimate the likelihood of eating disorders being developed in specific groups.
Participants were 2,068 female students. The psychometric properties of the WCS were adequate for the Portuguese sample; however, for the Brazilian and Mozambican samples, it was necessary to correlate the errors of two items to improve model fit. The WCS did not show cross-national invariance. The variables "thoughts about dropping out of college," "medication use because of studies," "medication and supplements use for body change," "body mass index," "socioeconomic status," "age," and "performance in course" were significant predictors of body weight concerns. Overall, 24.4% (95% confidence interval = 22.9-26.7) of the students were likely to develop eating disorders. Students under 21 years old, who use medication and supplements for body change, and who were classified as overweight/obese have increased likelihood of developing eating disorders.
The WCS showed good psychometric properties with Brazilian, Portuguese, and Mozambican students; however, it did not show cross-national invariance. We identified important aspects for investigating body weight concerns and factors related to eating disorders.
体重问题在饮食失调个体中很常见，这种情况可以使用心理测量工具进行评估。体重关注量表（WCS）通常用于评估体重问题。
评估WCS在巴西、葡萄牙和莫桑比克女大学生中的心理测量特性；估计体重问题；并确定与饮食失调相关的因素。
进行验证性因素分析。评估因素效度、收敛效度、同时效度和区分效度以及信度。通过多组分析测试跨国不变性。以WCS作为因变量，以人口统计学和学术变量以及体重指数作为自变量来测试结构模型。测试逻辑模型以估计特定群体中发生饮食失调的可能性。
参与者为2068名女学生。WCS的心理测量特性对葡萄牙样本来说是足够的；然而，对于巴西和莫桑比克样本，有必要将两个条目的误差相关联以改善模型拟合。WCS没有显示出跨国不变性。“考虑辍学”、“因学习而用药”、“为改变身体而用药和补充剂”、“体重指数”、“社会经济地位”、“年龄”和“课程成绩”等变量是体重问题的重要预测因素。总体而言，24.4%（95%置信区间 = 22.9 - 26.7）的学生可能会发展为饮食失调。21岁以下、为改变身体而使用药物和补充剂以及被归类为超重/肥胖的学生发展为饮食失调的可能性增加。
WCS在巴西、葡萄牙和莫桑比克学生中显示出良好的心理测量特性；然而，它没有显示出跨国不变性。我们确定了调查体重问题和与饮食失调相关因素的重要方面。
