Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Feeding Questionnaire among low-income African American families of preschool children

The underrepresentation of students from low-income families and of culturally diverse students is a longstanding and pervasive problem in the field of gifted education. Teachers play an important role in equitably identifying and serving students in gifted education; therefore, the Having Opportunities Promotes Excellence (HOPE) Scale was used in this study with a sample of Korean elementary school teachers ( n = 55) and their students ( n = 1,157). Confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis results suggested the HOPE Scale shows equivalence of model form, factor loading, and factor variances across different income and ethnic groups. A follow-up interview with teachers ( n = 6) revealed they acknowledged the importance of using the HOPE Scale as an additional method for identifying gifted students; however, they indicated less confidence about rating gifted students’ social characteristics compared with academic components in the HOPE Scale.

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Development and Validation of a Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity Scale for Low-Income Adolescents

Journal of Physical Activity and Health ◽

10.1123/jpah.2020-0259 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Cheng Li ◽

Christy Hullings ◽

Wei Wang ◽

Debra M. Palmer Keenan

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Factor Analysis ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽

Exploratory Factor Analysis ◽

Low Income ◽

Concurrent Validity ◽

Intraclass Correlation ◽

Perceived Barriers ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Fit Index

Background: Low-income adolescents’ physical activity (PA) levels fall below current recommendations. Perceived barriers to physical activity (PBPA) are likely significant predictors of PA levels; however, valid and reliable measures to assess PA barriers are lacking. This manuscript describes the development of the PBPA Survey for Low-Income Adolescents. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used. Items identified from the literature and revised for clarity and appropriateness (postcognitive interviews) were assessed for test–retest reliability with 74 adolescents using intraclass correlation coefficient. Items demonstrating low intraclass correlation coefficients or floor effects were removed. Both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis analyses (n = 1914 low-income teens) were used to finalize the scale; internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. Concurrent validity was established by correlating the PBPA with the PA questionnaire for adolescents using a Spearman correlation. Results: The exploratory factor analysis yielded a 38-item, 7-factor solution, which was cross-validated by confirmatory factor analysis (comparative-fit index, nonnormed fit index = .90). The scale’s Cronbach’s alpha was .94, with subscales ranging from .70 to .88. The PBPA Survey for Low-Income Adolescents’ concurrent validity was supported by a negative PA questionnaire for adolescents’ correlation values. Conclusion: The PBPA Survey for Low-Income Adolescents can be used to better understand the relationship between PBPA among low-income teens. Further research is warranted to validate the scale with other adolescent subgroups.

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