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Self-efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: a validation study

Self-efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: a validation study

Silva, Cátia

;

Pereira, Beatriz

;

Figueiredo, Gabriela Santos Silva Carvalho

; Rosário, Pedro;

Núñez, José Carlos

; Magalhães, Paula
| Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) | 2023 | DOI

Artigo de Jornal

Self-efficacy has a strong influence on children’s eating behavior. Feeling capable of regulating one’s eating behavior is especially relevant in situations of activation while facing temptations or experiencing negative emotions. Despite the relevance, there is no validated measure to assess children’s self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in these domains. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children based on a sample of 724 elementary school children in Portugal. The sample was split randomly into two groups, and a principal component analysis with Group 1 and a confirmatory factor analysis with Group 2 were carried out. The scale comprises two distinct but related factors—self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in activation and temptation situations and self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in negative emotional situations. Moreover, self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors was positively and statistically related to self-regulation processes toward healthy eating, declarative knowledge about healthy eating, and attitudes and perceptions toward healthy eating. The present study provides preliminary evidence that the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children is valid and reliable for evaluating children’s self-efficacy in regulating their eating behaviors.
This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM) School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (UIDB/01662/2020). Additionally, this study was supported by
the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds (PTDC/PSI-GER/28302/2017) and co-financed
by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER028302). This study was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, through national funds, within the scope of the Transitory Disposition of the Decree No. 57/2016, of 29th of August, amended
by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July. BP (SFRH/BD/143469/2019) and GF (2020/07940/BD) were supported by a Doctoral research grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Publicação

Ano de Publicação: 2023

Editora: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

Identificadores

ISSN: 1661-7827