Meadows Angela, Higgs Suzanne
School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2019 Apr 16;10:808. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00808. eCollection 2019.
Internalized weight stigma (IWS) is generally operationalized as self-devaluation due to weight in higher-weight individuals. The most commonly used measure of IWS, the Weight Bias Internalization Scale (WBIS), was developed from an original pool of 19 items. Item selection was guided by statistical techniques based upon an hypothesized unidimensional factor structure. The resulting 11-item scale mostly assesses appearance-related attitudes, fear of stigma, affect, and desire for change, all of which may be a natural response to societal weight stigma, even in the absence of self-devaluation. Items pertaining to self-blame, stigma awareness, perceived legitimacy of weight stigma, and most items pertaining to self-worth, were excluded from the final scale. It is unclear whether an assumption of multi-dimensionality would have produced different results.
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the original 19-item questionnaire was conducted in 931 higher-weight individuals.
A 13-item two-factor structure was identified. Factor 1 comprised seven items that could be loosely conceived as weight-related distress. Factor 2 comprised six items, all of which pertained to weight-related self-worth. Tested individually, the six items making up the self-devaluation factor were an excellent fit for the data on all fit indices.
IWS is a multi-dimensional construct. The two-factor WBIS (WBIS-2F) provides options to explore the relationships between different aspects of IWS and upstream and downstream variables. The Self-Devaluation subscale is suitable for standalone use when weight-related self-devaluation is the construct of interest.
内化的体重污名（IWS）通常被定义为体重较高者因体重而产生的自我贬低。IWS最常用的测量工具——体重偏见内化量表（WBIS），是从最初的19个条目中开发出来的。条目选择以基于假设的单维因素结构的统计技术为指导。最终形成的11个条目量表主要评估与外表相关的态度、对污名的恐惧、情感以及改变的愿望，即使在没有自我贬低的情况下，所有这些都可能是对社会体重污名的自然反应。与自责、污名意识、体重污名的感知合法性以及大多数与自我价值相关的条目都被排除在最终量表之外。尚不清楚多维假设是否会产生不同的结果。
对931名体重较高的个体进行了对原始19个条目问卷的探索性和验证性因素分析。
确定了一个由13个条目组成的双因素结构。因素1包括7个条目，可以大致理解为与体重相关的困扰。因素2包括6个条目，所有这些条目都与体重相关的自我价值有关。单独测试时，构成自我贬低因素的6个条目在所有拟合指数上都与数据非常拟合。
IWS是一个多维结构。双因素WBIS（WBIS - 2F）为探索IWS不同方面与上下游变量之间的关系提供了选择。当与体重相关的自我贬低是感兴趣的结构时，自我贬低子量表适合单独使用。
