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Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children
Published on: March 1, 2019
Examining elementary school--aged children's self-efficacy and proxy efficacy for fruit and vegetable consumption
Karly S Geller1, David A Dzewaltowski
1Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA. kgeller@crch.hawaii.edu
Summary
This study validates scales measuring children's confidence (self-efficacy) in eating fruits and vegetables (FVC) and influencing others (proxy efficacy). The measures are reliable across diverse groups, supporting their use in nutrition research.
Area of Science:
- Child Nutrition
- Psychological Measurement
- Health Behavior
Background:
- Children's self-efficacy for fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) and proxy efficacy to influence others are crucial for dietary habits.
- Previous research identified four related scales measuring self-efficacy for fruit consumption, self-efficacy for vegetable consumption, and proxy efficacy towards parents and after-school staff.
Purpose of the Study:
- To confirm the factor structure of the four scales measuring children's self- and proxy efficacy for FVC.
- To assess the measurement invariance of these scales across gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) subgroups.
Main Methods:
- Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the proposed factor structure of the efficacy scales.
- Measurement invariance testing was conducted across demographic subgroups (gender, ethnicity, SES).
Main Results:
- The study confirmed the validity of the four correlated scales for measuring children's self- and proxy efficacy.
- Measurement invariance was established across gender, SES, and ethnicity, indicating unbiased generalizability.
- No significant differences in self- and proxy efficacy were found among these demographic subgroups.
Conclusions:
- The validated scales provide reliable and generalizable measures of children's fruit and vegetable consumption efficacy.
- These findings support the use of the current measures in diverse populations for nutrition intervention research.
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