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Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Child Feeding Questionnaire in Australian preschool children
Nadia Corsini1, Vanessa Danthiir, Lisa Kettler
1CSIRO Human Nutrition, Adelaide, BC, SA 5000, Australia. Nadia.Corsini@csiro.au
Insights
The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) may benefit from an eighth factor, "food as reward," to better capture parental feeding practices. However, the original seven-factor model is recommended for general use until further validation.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Nutrition Science
- Psychometrics
Background:
- The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) is a key tool for assessing parental feeding behaviors and beliefs about child obesity.
- Previous research has established a seven-factor structure for the CFQ.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ).
- To evaluate the suitability of existing CFQ models and explore potential modifications.
Main Methods:
- Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to investigate the CFQ's underlying structure.
- Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) compared several seven-factor models with an eight-factor model.
Main Results:
- EFA identified a potential additional factor related to using food as a reward, drawn from the Restriction subscale.
- An eight-factor model, including 'food as reward,' demonstrated the best fit to the data.
Conclusions:
- An eight-factor model offers a potentially improved structure for the CFQ, particularly regarding the conceptualization of the Restriction subscale.
- Further research and validation are needed before adopting the eight-factor model; the seven-factor model remains recommended for general application.
Abstract:
The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) is a widely used measure of parental feeding practices, comprising seven factors that measure aspects of parental control over feeding and beliefs about children's obesity proneness. Parents in South Australia (N=203) completed the CFQ at their 4- or 5-year-old child's preschool health visits in May and June 2006. This study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Initially, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the CFQ. Using EFA an additional factor could be extracted, comprising 2 items from the Restriction subscale regarding parents' use of food to reward behaviour. Several modified seven factor models of the CFQ, specified in previous research, were examined using confirmatory factor analysis and compared with an eight factor model. An eight factor model specifying an additional factor, food as reward, provided the best fit to the data, however, until replicated and validated, a seven factor model excluding the reward items is recommended for general use. The findings suggest that further work is required in the conceptualization of the Restriction subscale.
