Bahasa Indonesia version of Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI): Translation and validation among young adults

The Weight Stigma Exposure Inventory (WeSEI) is a newly developed tool that assesses observed weight stigma across different sources (i.e., interpersonal and non-interpersonal sources). Although the WeSEI is considered a useful instrument for assessing observed weight stigma, it has not been translated into Bahasa Indonesian. Therefore, the present study translated the WeSEI into Bahasa Indonesian and evaluated its psychometric properties.

A total of 1303 Indonesian university students were recruited via online survey between February and October 2024. They provided demographic information, and completed the WeSEI and the Weight Self-Stigma Questionnaire (WSSQ). Moreover, the factor structures, internal consistency, concurrent validity with external measures (i.e., WSSQ and body mass index, or BMI), and measurement invariance across sex (male vs. female) and weight status (non-overweight vs. overweight) of the translated WeSEI were evaluated.

Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the WeSEI had a seven-factor structure (comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.984, Tucker-Lewis index [TLI] = 0.982, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.050, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.058). The WeSEI showed very good internal consistency (ω = 0.86-0.93) among Indonesian young adults, and it had positive correlations with scores on the WSSQ and BMI. In addition, the seven-factor structure of WeSEI was invariant across sex and weight status.

The Bahasa WeSEI demonstrated good validity and reliability and provided further evidence for assessing different sources of weight stigma exposure in an Indonesian context. Therefore, the WeSEI can be considered a robust tool for assessing observed weight stigma among Indonesian populations.