The Impact of Feeding on the Parent and Family Scales (Feeding Impact Scales): Development and Psychometric Testing.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Families of children with feeding disorder face significant challenges in supporting their child's feeding, growth, and development. The Feeding Impact Scales were developed to assess how child feeding impacts parent and family. METHODS: Items were adapted from an existing scale. Parents of children with feeding difficulty completed the online survey. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were used to evaluate and reduce items. Internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and readability were tested. RESULTS: IRT analyses (n = 317) identified 12 items for the Parent Impact and 13 items for the Family Impact. Internal reliability for the scales were acceptable. Convergent validity was supported. CONCLUSIONS: The Feeding Impact Scales have evidence of reliability and validity. They can be utilized in practice and research.