Validating the Sociocultural Influences on Fear of Fat Scale (SI-FAT) on a racially and ethnically diverse sample of college women

The fear of fat, or fear of gaining weight, is conceptually related to both weight stigma and eating disorders. Since sociocultural pressures related to the thin ideal are important to examine within sociocultural models of body image, the Sociocultural Influences on Fear of Fat (SI-FAT) was created and validated on a sample of predominantly White college women. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of the SI-FAT in a sample of racially and ethnically diverse college women, given potential differences in experiences of fear of fat and the need to measure sociocultural pressures related to fear of fat in multiple groups. A sample of college women (72.8% Hispanic/Latina, 14.85% Black, and 12.35% White) completed the SI-FAT as well as measures of weight stigma and body image. Results suggested that the factor structure of the SI-FAT were consistent across racial and ethnic groups. These findings indicate that the SI-FAT is appropriate for use among racially and ethnically diverse samples of young women. Directions for future research, including examining differences between sociocultural pressures related to weight gain and self-reported fear of fat are discussed.