Psychometric Analyses of the Motivation to Prepare Healthy Foods Questionnaire Used With Adult College Students

Abstract

Objective: To develop and validate a questionnaire to measure adult college students' motivation to prepare healthy foods based on the psychosocial needs identified by Self-determination Theory.

Design: This study used a cross-sectional design.

Setting: A major southeastern public university.

Subjects: A total of 1,027 free-living adults, aged 18-30 years, were recruited. Data from 997 were analyzed.

Variables measured: The 5 constructs of Self-determination Theory were validated.

Analysis: Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, and respecification analysis were performed.

Results: The exploratory factor analysis returned 5 factors with acceptable internal structure. Cronbach α values were .94 for perceived competence, .85 for autonomy support, .87 for intrinsic motivation, .78 for relatedness, and .77 for autonomy. Test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.66-0.79. Confirmatory factor and respecification analyses revealed that the 5-factor structure was an appropriate fit for the data.

Conclusions and implications: More research is needed to test the questionnaire's use in a culinary classroom setting to reaffirm these findings. Future research includes testing the instrument's convergent and discriminant validity, performing differential analyses to generalize its use in a wider adult population, and using it to assess change in motivation as a result of participating in a classroom-based culinary skills-building intervention. Additional confirmatory studies are needed to determine whether using nutrition and kinesiology students in the current study affected construct validity.

Keywords: Self-determination Theory; cooking; factor analysis; intrinsic motivation; questionnaire development.