Weight bias internalization across weight categories among school-aged children
- Anti-fat bias is widespread and is linked to the internalization of weight bias and psychosocial problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the internalization of weight bias among children across weight categories and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Weight Bias Internalization Scale for Children (WBIS-C). Data were collected from 1484 primary school children and their parents. WBIS-C demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = .86) after exclusion of Item 1. The unitary factor structure was supported using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (factorial validity). Girls and overweight children reported higher WBIS-C scores in comparison to boys and non-overweight peers (known-groups validity). Convergent validity was shown by significant correlations with psychosocial problems. Internalization of weight bias explained additional variance in different indicators of psychosocial well-being. The results suggest that the WBIS-C is a psychometrically sound and informative tool to assess weight biasAnti-fat bias is widespread and is linked to the internalization of weight bias and psychosocial problems. The purpose of this study was to examine the internalization of weight bias among children across weight categories and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Weight Bias Internalization Scale for Children (WBIS-C). Data were collected from 1484 primary school children and their parents. WBIS-C demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha = .86) after exclusion of Item 1. The unitary factor structure was supported using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (factorial validity). Girls and overweight children reported higher WBIS-C scores in comparison to boys and non-overweight peers (known-groups validity). Convergent validity was shown by significant correlations with psychosocial problems. Internalization of weight bias explained additional variance in different indicators of psychosocial well-being. The results suggest that the WBIS-C is a psychometrically sound and informative tool to assess weight bias internalization among children.…
| Author details: | Anna ZubaGND, Petra WarschburgerORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.02.008 |
| ISSN: | 1740-1445 |
| ISSN: | 1873-6807 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29477970 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Body image : an international journal of research |
| Subtitle (English): | validation of the weight bias internalization scale for children |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| Place of publishing: | Amsterdam |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2018/02/22 |
| Publication year: | 2018 |
| Release date: | 2021/11/29 |
| Tag: | Children; Internalization of weight bias; Psychological functioning; Psychometric properties; Weight stigma |
| Volume: | 25 |
| Number of pages: | 10 |
| First page: | 56 |
| Last Page: | 65 |
| Funding institution: | German Research Foundation as part of the Graduate School "Intrapersonal developmental risk factors in childhood and adolescence: A longitudinal perspective" (DFG) [GRK 1668] |
| Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
| DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
