Objective: The purpose of the present study was to develop scales to measure the strategies used ofr coping with the temptations experienced during weight control.
Methods: The subjects for this study consisted of 994 consenting adults who anonymously responded to a selfadministered
questionnaire. The questions focused on the frequency with which the subjects used various strategies to cope with the temptations experienced during weight control, their stage of change, their knowledge about weight control, their self-efficacy, their perceptions of their current weight, and their demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed in terms of the item selection, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and assessment of the reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and validity of the scales.
Results: There were 752 respondents for subsequent analyses (518 males, 210 females, nad 42 missing data). Five scales comprising 44 items concerning coping strategies were extracted from the data: counter- conditioning (11 items), eating style (12 items), stimulus ocntrol (5 teims), social support (4 items), and cognitive coping (12 items). The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) of these scales were 0.68~0.87. More advanced stages of change and greater knowledge weight control were associated with significantly higher scores for the scales measuring coping
strategies.
Conclusions: The validity and reliability of these five new scales were confirmed for subjects who were in weight control. Since this study used cross-sectional survey methodology, a longitudinal study will be necessary to examine the relationship between coping strategies and self-efficacy for dealing with temptation during about weight control