Development of Reliable and Valid Questions to Assess Food Resource Management Behaviors in Adults With Limited Income

Abstract

Objective: Develop reliable, valid questions to assess changes in food resource management (FRM) behaviors in adults with limited incomes.

Design: Questionnaire development using a mixed-methods approach: content validity (subject matter and curricula), face validity, temporal reliability (test-retest), sensitivity to change, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).

Setting: Community settings in 12 states.

Participants: Convenience samples of English-speaking Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) or EFNEP-eligible adults: 105 (cognitive interviews), 181 (test-retest), 185 (sensitivity), and 389 (EFA) adults.

Variables measured: Behaviors related to FRM skills: planning, shopping, and budgeting.

Analysis: Consistency and agreement in cognitive interviews and temporal reliability; sensitivity at posttest (paired t tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests); internal consistency of scales identified in EFA (Cronbach α). P < 0.5.

Results: All questions had acceptable temporal reliability ranges for the intraclass correlation coefficient (0.48-0.74) and Spearman rank-order correlation (0.48-0.73). All questions were sensitive to change at posttest (P < 0.001). Planning and saving scales, revealed by EFA, demonstrated internal consistency (> 0.80 Cronbach α).

Conclusions and implications: The 9 FRM behavior questions have acceptable temporal reliability and content and face validity and can be used nationally by EFNEP to assess participants' self-reported behavior changes. Other nutrition programs with similar audiences and content could use these questions to measure changes in FRM behaviors.

Keywords: EFNEP; evaluation; food resource management; reliability; validity.