Psychometric Properties of the Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Technology Survey

Abstract

In the United States, 12.7 million children and adolescent are currently obese (Ogden, Carroll, Fryar, & Flegal, 2015). The serious medical and psychosocial implications of obesity have made monitoring weight and related health outcomes an area of interest for treatment developers. Clearly there is a need for reliable and valid self-report health measures for children and adolescents (Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Effort, Food and Nutrition Board, & Institute of Medicine, 2013; Glasgow et al., 2005). Motivating Adolescents with Technology to CHOOSE Health (MATCH) is a wellness intervention tailored to the national curriculum standards for seventh grade students. Progress monitoring in the MATCH program is achieved using the Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Technology (PANT) Survey, which was developed by the MATCH researchers to measure weight management strategies across the domains of physical activity, nutritional choices, and technology use. The current study examines the construct validity of the PANT survey using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, then examines the association between those factor(s) and body mass index to establish criterion validity. The data for the analysis was collected from a sample of 5,481 students participating in the MATCH studies from 47 schools across North Carolina.