Validation of a brief food parenting measure for fathers: A test of factorial validity, measurement invariance, internal reliability, and concurrent validity

Fathers are underrepresented in food parenting research partly due to the lack of succinct, theory-informed, and father-mother equivalent food parenting measurement tools. To address this, we 1) tested the factorial validity of a brief food parenting measure utilizing a subset of items from the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) to represent coercive control, structure, and autonomy support, 2) assessed the extent to which the brief tool works similarly in fathers and mothers (i.e., measurement invariance), and 3) evaluated its internal reliability and concurrent validity. Participants included 1071 fathers of children aged 2–6 years and 487 of their co-parents (mothers) from the Fathers & Families study. Fathers and mothers responded to 16 CFPQ items, and fathers reported on children's diets. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test factorial validity. Multi-group CFA was used to examine measurement invariance across fathers and mothers. Internal reliability was examined using Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman-Brown coefficient. Concurrent validity was assessed utilizing multiple logistic regressions to examine associations between the three food parenting factors and children's intakes of fruit, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and fast food. CFA confirmed a three-factor model with 11 items, including coercive control (four items), structure (five items), and autonomy support (two items). Multi-group CFA indicated measurement invariance across fathers and mothers. Internal reliability was established. Concurrent validity was strong for structure, but weaker for coercive control and autonomy support. Further refinements are encouraged to enhance items' utility in characterizing fathers' food parenting practices, including in different social and cultural contexts.