The Chinese Version of the Goal Content for Weight Maintenance Scale (GCWMS) among Young Adults: Psychometric Properties and Its Associations with Weight Status and Disordered Eating

Purpose: This current work aims to translate the Goal Content for Weight Maintenance Scale into the Chinese version (C-GCWMS) and examine its psychometric properties among Chinese young adults.

Methods: The data were collected from a university in Hunan Province. The number of valid samples is 1065 (78.8% are females) and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure of C-GCWMS. Reliabilities of subscales from the C-GCWMS were examined. Convergent and divergent validity was assessed by Pearson correlation analyses between the subscales of C-GCWMS and other theoretically related/unrelated measures.

Results: The four-dimensional structure of C-GCWMS was stable and was invariant across genders. The internal consistency reliabilities of four subscales were proved to be adequate according to Cronbach’s α (0.82-0.88), and the construct validity was overall good. In males, challenge (r = 0.157, p = 0.019) and social recognition (r = 0.167, p = 0.012) was significantly and positively correlated to BMI, while in females, health management, challenge, social recognition, and image showed significant and positive correlations with both BMI (r = 0.109, p = 0.028; r = 0.109, p = 0.002; r = 0.108, p = 0.002; r = 0.180, p < 0.001) and disordered eating behaviors (r = 0.109, p = 0.011; r = 0.236, p < 0.001; r = 0.290, p < 0.001; r = 0.247, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The C-GCWMS was psychometrically adequate for the sample of Chinese students. As disordered eating and BMI were significantly and positively correlated with goal content for weight management, goal content for weight management can be important contributors to individuals’ weight status and disordered eating behaviors. However, the roles of goal content for weight management in weight status and disordered eating behaviors should be confirmed in future experimental and/or longitudinal studies.