Children's Social Desirability and Dietary Reports
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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
Suzanne Domel Baxter1, Albert F Smith, Mark S Litaker
1Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29204, USA. sbaxter@gwn.sc.edu
Abstract:
We investigated telephone administration of the Children's Social Desirability (CSD) scale and our adaptation for children of the Social Desirability for Food scale (C-SDF). Each of 100 4th-graders completed 2 telephone interviews 28 days apart. CSD scores had adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and a 14-item subset was identified that sufficiently measures the same construct. Our C-SDF scale performed less well in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability; factor analysis revealed 2 factors, 1 of which was moderately related to the CSD. The 14-item subset of the CSD scale may help researchers understand error in children's dietary reports.
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