Parent-perceived barriers to child weight management: Measure validation in a clinical sample.

Introduction: Although families face many barriers to obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight status for children, there remains a lack of psychometrically sound tools to assess perceived barriers. The Barriers to Child Weight Management (BCWM) scale quantitatively assesses parents’ perceptions of barriers to engaging in positive weight-related behaviors but has not been validated within a clinical sample. The present study sought to validate the BCWM scale among parents of children presenting to a tertiary pediatric weight management clinic. Method: Participants included 258 parents of children aged 6–18 years presenting to a tertiary care behavioral weight management program. Parents completed the BCWM prior to the initial clinic visit. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the previously identified 4-factor structure within a clinical sample. Results: Overall model fit was good with the addition of 2 theoretically appropriate model respecifications, χ2(144) = 278.60, p
Source: Families, Systems, and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research