Objective: To develop and test the psychometric properties of a responsive feeding questionnaire (RFQ) on the basis of Self-Determination Theory for caregivers of toddlers aged 12-24 months in China.
Design: Item generation, preliminary evaluation items, refinement questionnaire, and psychometric properties testing.
Setting: Toddlers' caregivers from Shandong Province, China, were surveyed online between June 2021 and February 2022 (n = 616).
Main outcome measure: Content, face, and construct validity and reliability of the RFQ.
Analysis: Content validity was performed on the basis of expert panel feedback and cognitive interviews among caregivers. Construct validity was evaluated using principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Test-retest reliability was conducted with a sample of 105 caregivers.
Results: Over 3 phases of testing, a new instrument was developed to measure responsive feeding in toddler caregivers. The instrument was reliable, with an internal consistency of 0.87 and an intraclass correlation of 0.92. The principal component analysis identified a 3-factor solution (autonomy support, positive involvement, appropriate response) aligning with a theoretical framework from Self-Determination Theory. The final version of the instrument included 23 items.
Conclusions and implications: The 23-item RFQ has been validated in a Chinese population. Future research needs to validate this instrument in other countries and with children of different ages.
Keywords: caregivers; instrument development; responsive feeding; toddlers.
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