Development of Stressor Scale for Obese People

Abstract

Present study was conducted to develop and validate an Indigenous scale to assess the stressors experienced by obese people in different domains of their lives. Mixed method design and purposive sampling technique was used. A list of 29 items was generated after thorough review of the literature and from the details of the interviews conducted with the participants. Validation from expert clinical psychologists was obtained. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with oblimin rotation was run on a sample of 300 participants for current study. Confirmatory factor analysis on a separate sample of 400 participants yielded a good model fit and validated three-factor structure with fit indices ? 2 = 807.45 (df = 320, N = 300), p < .05, RMSEA = .062, CFI = .91 and TLI = .88. The Cronbach alpha valuewas.86 indicating strong internal consistency of the scale. The distress and Well-being subscales of Mental Health Inventory were utilized to assess the convergent and divergent Validity which yielded positive and negative correlation respectively affirming Stressor Scale for Obese people as a valid construct. The study is an initial step to highlight and understand the stressors experienced by obese people and its severity level. This will help doctors and mental health professional to devise effective management of obesity.