RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To describe the development, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the McKnight Risk Factor Survey-III (MRFS-III). The MRFS-III was designed to assess a number of potential risk and protective factors for the development of disordered eating in preadolescent and adolescent girls. METHOD: Several versions of the MRFS were pilot tested before the MRFS-III was administered to a sample of 651 4th through 12th- grade girls to establish its psychometric properties. RESULTS: Most of the test-retest reliability coefficients of individual items on the MRFS-III were r > .40. Alpha coefficients for each risk and protective factor domain on the MRFS-III were also computed. The majority of these coefficients were r > .60. High convergent validity coefficients were obtained for specific items on the MRFS-III and measures of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) and weight concerns (Weight Concerns Scale). CONCLUSIONS: The test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the MRFS-III suggest that it is a useful new instrument to assess potential risk and protective factors for the development of disordered eating in preadolescent and adolescent girls.
Asunto(s)
Conducta del Adolescente/psicología , Trastornos de Alimentación y de la Ingestión de Alimentos/diagnóstico , Escalas de Valoración Psiquiátrica/normas , Adolescente , Preescolar , Conducta Alimentaria/psicología , Femenino , Humanos , Valor Predictivo de las Pruebas , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Medición de Riesgo , Sensibilidad y EspecificidadRESUMEN
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between weight control behaviors and potential risk factors for disordered eating in a sample of young girls. The McKnight Risk Factor Survey was administered to 523 elementary and middle school girls. In the sample of elementary school girls, results from the multiple regression analyses indicated that frequency/severity of weight control behaviors was associated with body mass index (BMI), self-confidence, peers' weight-related pressures, ethnicity, and the interaction between having divorced/separated parents and BMI. Sensitivity to peers' weight-related pressures and BMI were also associated with weight control behaviors in the middle school girls, along with poor body image, substance use, having divorced/separated parents, and the interaction between having divorced/separated parents and father's pressure for thinness. Longitudinal research is needed to determine how risk factors change over time, beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school.