JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Besides its health impact, obesity is associated with serious self-stigmatization. The lack of a suitable and validated tool to measure weight-related self-stigma in Saudi Arabia may be partly responsible for the scarcity of literature about this problem in the country.

Objective:

This study investigated the reliability and validity of an Arabic version of the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ).

Methods:

The study examined the test-retest reliability and exploratory-factor validation of the Arabic-translated version of the 12-item WSSQ. Data were collected with two cross-sectional electronic questionnaires distributed among Saudi nationals through the Sharik Health Research Database in June 2020. Weight Self-Stigma Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and exploratory-factor analysis were assessed and compared with these metrics of the original English version of the WSSQ.

Results:

For reliability analysis, 43 participants completed the Arabic WSSQ in two periods: The internal consistency was 0.898; subscale Factor 1, 0.819; and subscale Factor 2, 0.847. The test-retest reliability of the intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.982. In the factor structure analysis, 295 participants completed the WSSQ once; the Arabic WSSQ loading of the items was consistent with the original WSSQ, except for loading of item 9, which loaded stronger in Factor 2 than in Factor 1; the two factors explain 47.7% and 10.6% of the variance.

Conclusions:

The Arabic version of the WSSQ has good internal consistency and reliability, and the factorial structure is like that of the original WSSQ. The Arabic WSSQ appears suitable for assessing weight-related self-stigma in Arabic-speaking people.