Development and Validation of a Sociocultural Influences on Diet Questionnaire (SCID-Q)

Sociocultural factors that influence diet, eating behaviors and obesity, = cannot currently be quantified due to the lack of validated instruments.

To create a validated instrument that identifies and quantifies key dimensions of sociocultural influences on diet and eating behaviors.

The Sociocultural Influences on Diet-Questionnaire (SCID-Q) was developed from 22 questions imbedding 124 potential items implemented in 1,632 United States (U.S.) adults recruited online in 2021, with 1497 retained for use after a comprehensive data cleaning process. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=749) was used to identify the items/factors that best distinguished different sociocultural influences on diet, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n=748) was used to further validate the goodness-of-fit of the model suggested through EFA. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) based on a two-way mixed-effects model with absolute agreement for single measurements on a subset of 324 respondents.

EFA identified a 6-factor, 25-item solution as the strongest framework, explaining 54.1% of variance in the observed variables. CFA confirmed this framework (X²= 566.67 (307); Comparative Fit Index= 0.95; Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)= 0.05; and standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR= 0.06). The six factors are: 1) Food Heritage, 2) Regional Foods, 3) Social Pressure, 4) Comparative Variety, 5) Cultural Identity, and 6) Dietary Beliefs, and with good to excellent test-retest reliability for each factor with ICC ranging from 0.79-0.92. Preliminary simple regressions found that four of the six factors (Social Pressure; Comparative Variety; Cultural Identity; Dietary Beliefs) were statistically significant predictors of body mass index (BMI).

SCID-Q is the first instrument to enable systematic and scalable assessment of discrete sociocultural factors associated with diet and weight management, and can be used to understand how different sociocultural factors influence diet, eating behaviors, and obesity. Additional research can support ongoing development of SCID-Q.