EATING HABITS CONFIDENCE SURVEY 1 Psychometric Evaluation of the Eating Habits Confidence Survey in Overweight and Obese Post-menopausal Women Jonathan W. Decker, MSN, ARNP, PhD-c Karen E. Dennis, PhD, RN, FAAN BACKGROUND Eating Habits Confidence Survey1 (EC) 20 – items Questions relate to specific behaviors common to people trying to eat a diet that is: Low-sodium Low-fat 4 subscales ‘Sticking to it’ ‘Reducing calories’ ‘Reducing salt’ ‘Reducing fat’ Derived from the 63-item Self-efficacy for Eating Behaviors Scale2 Psychometric evaluation of the EC has not been reported in the literature EATING HABITS CONFIDENCE SURVEY 1 Below is a list of things people might do while trying to change their eating habits. We are mainly interested in salt and fat intake, rather than weight reduction. Whether you are trying to change your eating habits or not, please rate how confident you are that you could really motivate yourself to do things like these consistently, for at least six months. How sure are you that you can do these things? (1 – ‘I know I cannot’ to 5 – ‘I know I can') Stick to your low fat, low salt foods when you feel depressed, bored, or tense. Stick to your low fat, low salt foods when there is high fat, high salt food readily available at a party. Stick to your low fat, low salt foods when dining with friends or co-workers. Stick to your low fat, low salt foods when the only snack close by is available from a vending machine. Stick to your low fat, low salt foods when you are alone, and there is no one to watch you. Eat smaller portions at dinner. Cook smaller portions so there are no leftovers. Eat lunch as your main meal of the day, rather than dinner. Eat smaller portions of food at a party. Eat salads for lunch. Add less salt than the recipe calls for. Eat unsalted peanuts, chips, crackers, and pretzels. Avoid adding salt at the table. Eat unsalted, unbuttered popcorn. Keep the salt shaker off the kitchen table. Eat meatless (vegetarian) entrees for dinner. Substitute low or non-fat milk for whole milk at dinner. Cut down on gravies and cream sauce. Eat poultry and fish instead of red meat at dinner. Avoid ordering red meat (beef, pork, ham, lamb) at restaurants. PURPOSE To evaluate the psychometric properties of the EC in overweight and obese post-menopausal women. METHODS Sample 86 generally healthy overweight and obese post-menopausal women (57.5 ± 3.9 years old). Analysis Internal reliability Total scores Subscale scores Item analysis Correlations between the EC and: Weight BMI Eating Behavior Inventory3 Binge Eating Scale4 Eating Self-efficacy Scale5 Multiple regressions to assess predictive validity of EC on: RESULTS Coefficient alphas Total scale 0.83 Subscales 0.64 – 0.80 Item analysis All but 3 items correlated with total score ≥0.30 Each item correlated more highly with its designated subscale Significant correlations EC total BMI (r = -0.27, p = 0.01) ‘Sticking to it’ BMI (r = -0.24, p = 0.01) ‘Reducing salt’ BMI (r = -0.24, p = 0.03) Weight (r = -0.22, p = 0.05) Multiple regression EC significantly contributed to a model predicting BMI (p = 0.01), but not weight CONCLUSIONS In this population of post-menopausal women the EC had adequate psychometric properties. Evaluation of psychometric properties with other populations needs to be conducted. REFERENCES Sallis, J. (1996). Eating Habits Confidence Survey. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from http://www.drjamessallis.sdsu.edu/selfefficacydiet.pdf Sallis, J.F., Pinski, R.B., Grossman, R.M., Patterson, T.L., & Nader, P.R. (1988). The development of self-efficacy scales for health-related diet and exercise behaviors. Health Education Research, 3, 283-292. O'Neil, P.M., Currey, H.S., Hirsch, A.A., Malcolm, R.J., Sexauer, J.D., Riddle, F.E., et al. (1979). Development and validation of the Eating Behavior Inventory. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 1(2), 123-132. Gormally, J., Black, S., Daston, S., & Rardin, D. (1982). The assessment of binge eating severity among obese persons. Addict Behav, 7(1), 47-55. Glynn, S. M., & Ruderman, A. J. (1986). The development and validation of an Eating Self-Efficacy Scale. Cognit Ther Res, 10(4), 403-420. jdecker@mail.ucf.edu