Psychometric properties and factor structure of the adapted Self‐Regulation Questionnaire assessing autonomous and controlled motivation for healthful eating among youth with type 1 diabetes and their parents

• Published in: Child : care, health & development Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 651 - 658
• Main Authors: Quick, V., Lipsky, L. M., Nansel, T. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2018
• Subjects: Adolescent; Body Composition; Body mass index; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Density; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - psychology; Diet; Eating behavior; Eating Habits; Efficacy; Exploratory factor analysis; Factor Analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Factor Structure; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Health Behavior; healthful eating; Healthy food; Humans; Internalization; Male; Meals; Motivation; Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Psychometrics; Quality management; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Rotation; Scientific Concepts; Self Efficacy; self‐regulation; Surveys and Questionnaires; type 1 diabetes; Type 1 diabetes mellitus; Youth; healthful eating; self-regulation; type 1 diabetes; youth; motivation; parents
• ISSN: 0305-1862; 1365-2214
• DOI: 10.1111/cch.12574

Background The purpose of this cross‐sectional study was to examine the psychometric properties of 2 adapted Self‐Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) measures assessing youth with type 1 diabetes motivation internalization for healthful eating and their parents motivation internalization for providing healthy meals for the family. Methods External validity of the adapted SRQ was evaluated with respect to healthy eating attitudes (healthful eating self‐efficacy, barriers, and outcome expectations) assessed by questionnaire, diet quality (Healthy Eating Index‐2005 [HEI‐2005]; Nutrient‐Rich Foods Index 9.3 [NRF9.3]; Whole Plant Food Density [WPFD]) assessed by 3‐day food records, and body mass index assessed by measured height and weight in youth with type 1 diabetes (N = 136; age 12.3 ± 2.5 years) and their parents. Results Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded a 2‐factor structure with the expected autonomous and controlled motivation factors for both youth and parents. Internal consistencies of subscales were acceptable (α = .66–.84). Youth autonomous and controlled motivation were positively correlated overall (r = 0.30, p < .001); however, in analyses stratified by age (<13 vs. ≥13 years), the correlation was not significant for youth ≥13 years. Autonomous motivation was significantly associated (p < .001) with greater self‐efficacy (youth: r = 0.39, parent: r = 0.36), positive outcome expectations (youth: r = 0.30, parent: r = 0.35), and fewer barriers to healthful eating (youth: r = −0.36, parent: r = −0.32). Controlled motivation was positively correlated with negative outcome expectations for parents (r = 0.29, p < .01) and both positive (r = 0.28, p < .01) and negative (r = 0.34, p < .001) outcome expectations for youth. Autonomous motivation was positively associated (p < .05) with diet quality indicators for parents (NRF9.3 r = 0.22; WPFD r = 0.24; HEI‐2005 r = 0.22) and youth ≥13 years (NRF9.3 r = 0.26) but not youth < 13years. Among parents, but not youth, body mass index was associated negatively with autonomous motivation (r = −.33, p < .001) and positively with controlled motivation (r = .27, p < .01). Conclusions Findings provide initial support for the SRQ in this population and suggest potential developmental differences in the role of motivation on healthful eating among children, adolescents, and adults.