Pilot Study: Survey Tools for Assessing Parenting Styles and Family Contributors to the Development of Obesity in Arab Children Ages 6 to 12 Years

• Published in: Ethnicity & disease 2015-11, Vol.25 (4), p.463-468
• Main Authors: Tami, Suzan H., Reed, Debra B., Trejos, Elizabeth, Boylan, Mallory, Wang, Shu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Arabs - psychology; Child; Feeding Behavior - ethnology; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Mothers - psychology; Obesity - ethnology; Original Report: Research Design; Parenting - ethnology; Parenting - psychology; Pilot Projects; Reproducibility of Results; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; United States
• ISSN: 1049-510X; 1945-0826
• DOI: 10.18865/ed.25.4.463

Our pilot study was conducted to test the reliability of the Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire (CFSQ) and the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity Assessment (FNPA) in a sample of Arab mothers. Twenty-five Arab mothers completed the CFSQ, FNPA, and the Participant Background Survey for the first administration. After 1-2 weeks, participants completed the CFSQ and the FNPA for the second administration. The two administrations of the surveys allowed for test/retest reliability of the CFSQ and the FNPA and to measure the internal consistency of the two surveys. Pearson's correlation between the first and second administrations or the 19-item scale (demandingness) and the 7-item scale (responsiveness) of the CFSQ were .95 and .86, respectively. As for the FNPA, Pearson's correlation was .80. The estimated reliabilities (Cronbach's alpha) of the CFSQ increased from .86 for the first administration to .93 for the second administration. However, the estimated reliabilities of the FNPA slightly increased from .58 for first administration to .59 for the second administration. In our pilot study of Arab mothers, the CFSQ and FNPA were shown to be promising in terms of reliability and content validity.