Understanding Perception of Weight Stigma: Development and Validation of Perceived Weight Stigmatization Scale

The present study was intended to develop a scale to measure perceived weight stigmatization among people with obesity. The study was conducted in five steps. In first step, three focus group discussions were conducted with female obese university students to get the first-hand information related to weight stigmatization. Step two involved four interviews which were conducted with male obese university students to collect detailed information about weight stigmatization experiences of men. Step three included content analysis of qualitative data for item generation. In step four, judge’s opinion was taken, and a committee approach was carried out to select the items for the initial form of the scale. Items for final form of the scale were selected through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis in step five. For exploratory factor analysis, 150 university students (men = 61, women = 89) were included in the sample, whereas, for confirmatory factor analysis, another group of students (men = 78, women = 72) participated in the study. Principal Component Factor Analysis revealed three meaningful structures including Self-Perception, Perceived Social Rejection, and Perceived Impact containing 43 items. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this factor structure and all 43 items possessed factor loadings greater than .40. Moreover, results indicated that perceived weight stigmatization had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .96) with three subscales having internal consistency .95, .83, and .92 respectively. Therefore, Perceived Weight Stigmatization Scale turned out to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring perception of weight stigma in adults with obesity.

Weight Stigma, Suicide Risk, and the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: The Roles of Emotion Dysregulation and Eating Pathology

Objective: Using an interpersonal theory of suicide framework, we investigated the relationships between perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, weight stigmatization, emotion dysregulation, eating disorder symptoms, and suicide risk. Three hypotheses were investigated. First, we predicted a positive linear relationship between stigmatization and risk. Second, an indirect effect of stigmatization on risk via thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness was posited. Third, we hypothesized that weight stigmatization would indirectly affect suicide risk via emotion dysregulation as conditional upon disordered eating. Method: Undergraduates (N = 156) completed surveys online. Linear regressions, indirect effect analyses, and conditional process modeling were conducted to test our hypotheses. Results: Weight stigmatization was associated with suicide risk, where higher levels of stigmatization were associated with higher levels of suicide risk. Weight stigmatization indirectly affected suicide risk via perceived burdensomeness but not thwarted belongingness. Higher stigmatization was associated with higher levels of perceived burdensomeness, which was associated with higher risk. An indirect effect of weight stigmatization on suicide risk through emotional dysregulation emerged. Higher weight stigmatization was associated with higher emotional dysregulation, which was associated with higher suicide risk. Conclusions: Our findings may have clinical and public health implications for suicide prevention efforts targeting weight stigma-related risk factors.