Les moqueries que subissent les enfants au sujet de leur poids ont souvent des conséquences délétères. Sur le plan clinique, leur détection précoce est donc essentielle. Cependant, il n’existe pas de questionnaire validé en français pour mesurer ces moqueries. Développé pour les adultes le Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS) inclut une mesure des moqueries liées au poids (WT). Le but de l’étude est de traduire, d’adapter et de valider la sous-échelle WT du POTS pour les enfants francophones de six à neuf ans. Les participants sont 430 enfants (240 filles et 188 garçons, âge moyen=7,51) du primaire. Ils complètent deux fois à un intervalle de deux semaines trois instruments : la version en français du POTS-WT, un questionnaire mesurant les troubles des conduites alimentaires (TCA) et un autre mesurant le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle spécifique à l’alimentation (SEPA). L’indice de masse corporelle (IMC) est aussi calculé. La présente version du POTS-WT montre une bonne cohérence interne, mais un indice test-retest plus faible. La fréquence des moqueries corrèle positivement avec les TCA et négativement avec le SEPA. Aucune corrélation n’est obtenue avec l’IMC. Les résultats appuient l’utilisation du POTS-WT en français pour la recherche clinique et pour le dépistage précoce.

Weight-related teasing in children often result in damaging consequences. On a clinical level, early detection is therefore essential. However, there is no questionnaire validated in French to measure weight-related teasing. The Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS) (Thompson et al., 1995 [43Thompson J.K., Cattarin J., Fowler B., Fisher E. The Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS): a revision and extension of the Physical Appearance Related Teasing Scale (PARTS) J Pers Assess 1995 ;  65 (1) : 146-157 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti]) developed for adults includes a measure for weight-related teasing (WT). This subscale includes six statements, which are each divided into two items. The first evaluates the frequency of teasing (WT-F) and the second evaluates the effects of teasing (WT-E).

The aim of this study was to translate, adapt and validate the subscale WT of POTS for 6- to 9-year-old French-speaking children in Quebec.

The participants were 430 primary school children (240 girls and 188 boys, mean age=7.51). The POTS-WT was first translated and adapted following Vallerand’s validation procedure (Vallerand, 1989 [51Vallerand R.J. Vers une méthodologie de validation trans-culturelle de questionnaires psychologiques: implications pour la recherche en langue française Can Psychol 1989 ;  30 (4) : 662-680 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti]). The first version of the subscale was produced using the back translation method. This version was evaluated by a committee of experts to ensure that it remained as close to the English version as possible. The terms used in the statements were also reworded to correspond to the language skills of 6- to 9-year-old children. In addition, due to the fact that the English version is a retrospective measure of teasing, the statements were revised to measure current experience of teasing. The format of the questionnaire was also adapted to facilitate its completion by children. Then, a first pre-test of the subscale was carried out on two 6-year-old children and a second pre-test on a class of first-year primary school pupils. Finally, 430 children completed three measures twice (T1-T2) at a two-week interval: the French version of POTS-WT, a questionnaire measuring eating disorders (EDs) and another measuring eating self-efficacy (ESE). The parents also filled out the weight and height of their child on the consent form and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated from this information.

The average score of the total of POTS-WT-F ranged from 7.87 (SD=4.06) to T1 and from 8.05 (SD=4.54) to T2. The average of POTS-WT-E ranged from 2.87 (SD=1.48) to T1 and from 2.85 (SD=1.57) to T2. The current version of the POTS-WT-F showed good internal coherence (T1=0.86; T2=0.88). A total item analysis relating to sex was also conducted for the POTS-WT-F (Tableau 1, Tableau 2) to check if one of the items should be eliminated. The correlations of corrected elements varied from 0.53 to 0.83. A total item correlation below 0.40 is generally used as a cut-off point (Lounsbury et al., 2006 [54Lounsbury J.W., Gibson L.W., Saudargas R.A. Scale Development The psychology research handbook: a guide for graduate students ans research assiants Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications (2006).  p.125-146.

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti]). A six-item version was therefore retained. As with the original version, Cronbach’s alpha of POTS-WT-E could not be calculated as there were not enough children who answered the six items. Because of the floor effect observed at T1 and at T2, the children’s answers were dichotomised (1 versus 2, 3, 4 and 5). The Pearson correlations for test-retest reliability for the POTS-WT-F and the POTS-WT-E were moderated and were situated respectively at 0.55 (P<0.001) and at 0.31 (P<0.001). Then, the Pearson correlations were calculated in order to estimate the convergence of the POTS-WT-F and of POTS-WT-E with the other questionnaires (Tableau 3). The POTS-WT-F correlated positively with the measure of EDs (T1=0.30, P<0.001; T2=0.21, P<0.001) and negatively with the measure of ESE (T1=–0.21, P<0.001; T2=–0.25, P<0.001). On the other hand, no significant correlation was found with the BMI. No significant correlations were found between the POTS-WT-E and the study variables.

The results support the use of the POTS-WT in French for clinical research and for early detection amongst French-speaking children in Quebec.