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Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Research

Attitudes toward and beliefs about obese persons across Hong Kong and Taiwan: wording effects and measurement invariance

Authors: Meng-Che Tsai, Carol Strong, Janet D. Latner, Yi-Ching Lin, Amir H. Pakpour, Chung-Ying Lin, Shu-Mei Wang

Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

The psychosocial consequences of obesity are important but often underrated. The Attitudes Toward Obese Persons (ATOP) and Beliefs About Obese Persons (BAOP) scales used to measure weight-related bias have little psychometric information, especially in East Asian contexts. The objective of this study was to use rigorous statistical methods to demonstrate the psychometric properties of these two instruments in Hong Kong and Taiwanese college students.

Methods

A convenience sample of 707 students was recruited from the universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Several competing confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted to confirm the factorial structure of the ATOP and BAOP. The best fit models for the ATOP and BAOP were chosen for the examination of the measurement invariance across subcultures. We then compared configurable models with or without loading and/or intercept constrained before correlating the latent constructs between the best models for the ATOP and BAOP.

Results

The comparison in multiple CFAs found that the model with one factor and two correlated-wording-method factors outperformed the other models for both the ATOP and BOAP. However, the internal consistency was suboptimal (ATOP: α = .56 to .80; BTOP: α = .57 to .65) and the measurement invariance was somewhat unsupported among the Hong Kong and Taiwan samples. Moreover, after controlling wording effects, the latent construct of the ATOP was moderately associated with that of BAOP (r = .356; p < .001).

Conclusion

Chinese versions of the ATOP and BAOP can be treated as a unidimensional factor for use in Hong Kong and Taiwan university students. However, further refinements of both instruments may be needed before using them to capture the social attitudes and beliefs toward obesity individuals, which is expected to advance our understanding of weight-related bias in East Asian contexts.
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Metadata
Title
Attitudes toward and beliefs about obese persons across Hong Kong and Taiwan: wording effects and measurement invariance
Authors
Meng-Che Tsai
Carol Strong
Janet D. Latner
Yi-Ching Lin
Amir H. Pakpour
Chung-Ying Lin
Shu-Mei Wang
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7525
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-019-1198-6

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