Development and psychometric evaluation of an empirically-derived daily checklist of weight control: Consumption-reduction strategies and health-focused strategies in college students

Abstract

Objective: Many college women report engaging in weight control strategies, yet little is known about which strategies are used and how often. The current study’s goal was to evaluate the factor structure of a comprehensive list of weight control behaviors used in the previous 24-hours. Participants: Undergraduate women (N = 286) were recruited from a southwestern university. Methods: Participants reported their weight control strategies for the previous 24 hours on a checklist compiled from previous studies. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a 14-item, 2-factor (“Consumption-reduction”, “Health-focused” Strategies) structure was a good fit of the data. Tests of longitudinal measurement invariance found support for using the checklist to make meaningful comparisons across time. Conclusions: This study developed a checklist of past 24-hour weight-control strategy usage, thereby providing a step toward developing an instrument that may be used for weight control or early intervention for disordered eating.

Keywords:

• Disordered eating
• reduced consumption
• weight control
• weight management strategies

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of New Mexico.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.