Developing a “benefits of parental feeding behaviors” questionnaire for parents of preschoolers in urban Thailand

Abstract

PurposeAwareness concerning the benefits of an action is a consistent influential predictor of personal behavior and essential for healthcare providers in assessing the benefits of parental feeding behaviors (BePFB) toward preschoolers. Nevertheless, a valid and reliable measure of assessment has yet to be found. The objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire on the BePFB for preschoolers' parents in urban Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe instrument development process comprised two phases: scale construction and psychometric property testing. Phase I involved generating an item pool from the literature review and interviews with 17 preschoolers' parents as the measurement format. The items were then reviewed for content validity by five experts, with items selected by evaluating the factor loading and communality score from exploratory factor analysis (n = 310). Phase II involved testing the psychometric properties by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability using internal consistency (n = 303).FindingsThe first draft of the “Benefits of Parental Feeding Behaviors Questionnaire” (BePFBQ) contained 24 items. Five items were deleted by the experts due to redundancy. Six items were then removed after evaluating the item selection process. CFA reported a good fit with the data (χ2/df ratio = 1.70, GFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.048). The regression weights ranged from 0.50 to 0.74, at a statistically significant level of 0.05 with an acceptable value for Cronbach's alpha (a = 0.91). Finally, the BePFBQ contained 13 items in one dimension, with the 5-point Likert scale.Originality/valueThe BePFBQ is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the BePFB in preschoolers' parents in urban Thailand.