Validation of the parent mealtime action scale (PMAS) when applied to children referred to a hospital-based feeding clinic

Brief Assessment of Mealtime Behavior in Children: Psychometrics and Association With Child Characteristics and Parent Responses

“…These 9 subscales had a mean internal validity of 0.62, a mean test-retest reliability of 0.62, and a mean convergent validity of 0.69 between mothers' and fathers' ratings of mothers' use of the actions. Strong internal reliability and convergent validity was also demonstrated for the PMAS with a group of 231 children referred to a feeding clinic (Williams et al, 2011) (Table 1). Arbuckle (2007), the ideal set of scale dimensions and items within them would be both parsimonious (or simple in the sense of including the fewest dimensions possible) and well-fitting to the actual patterns observed in the data.…”

“…There are several measures of parent mealtime behavior, such as the Child Feeding Questionnaire (Birch et al, 2001) and the Parent Mealtime Action Scale (PMAS; Hendy et al, 2009). Although neither parent behavior measure was originally developed for use in assessment of child feeding problems, the PMAS was recently validated with a clinical sample of children diagnosed with feeding problems (Williams, Hendy, Seiverling, & Can, 2011).…”

Assessment and Treatment of Feeding Problems among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Sample questions for the PMAS are shown in Table 2. Williams et al (2011) recently validated the use of the PMAS in a sample of 231 children (49 children with ASD, 84 children with other special needs, and 98 children without special needs) referred to a hospital-based feeding program. They found confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit for the original dimensions of the PMAS in a sample of children referred for feeding problems.…”

Feeding Issues Associated with the Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…62 and convergent validity was demonstrated with expected associations between parent mealtime actions measured by the PMAS and some children's feeding problems. The five PMAS dimensions most associated with children's feeding problems were snack limits, insistence on eating, fat reduction, many food choices, and special meals [79].…”

“…The clinician then provides specific recommendations to caregivers regarding actions they can implement to improve their child's feeding. The PMAS was developed with a sample of over 2000 typically developing children [75] but a recent study [79] examined it's applicability with a clinical sample including 49 children with ASD. Mean internal reliability was.…”