Adaptation and validation of a Romanian version of Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS) on a sample of early adolescents
The present study aimed to examine psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of a Romanian translated version of Perception of Teasing Scale (POTS, Thompson et al., 1995) among early adolescents. The study relied on a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 332 early adolescents (59.3% girls) aged between 11 and 13 years old (Mage = 12.20), from urban middle schools in north-eastern region of Romania. Participants completed weight-related teasing and competence-related teasing subscales of POTS, peer pressures subscale of Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-4R, Schaefer et al., 2017) and reported their weight and height. Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed good model fit for the two related-factors model. Thus, the Romanian version successfully replicated the factorial structure of the original POTS, supporting the scale construct validity. Both subscales demonstrated good internal consistency, supporting the scale reliability. Further, both weight-related teasing and competence-related teasing were positively related with perceived appearance pressures from peers and with children’s BMI, with stronger associations for weight-related teasing, supporting the scale convergent validity. The findings provide preliminary evidence showing that the present Romanian version of POTS could be a reliable and valid self-report measure to assess weight-related teasing and competence-related teasing among early adolescents across weight spectrum.
POTS, Teasing, Validation, Romanian, Adolescents, Factorial Structure, CFA
Alexandra Simona Zancu, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi, Romania, email: simona.zancu@uaic.ro
