Damaris Pease

A food intake assessment device for upper elementary school children

Abstract We designed a food intake assessment device to facilitate gathering objective data about food choices and the adequacy of the diets of children. The device consists of a card display of 40 foods and a pictorial representation of a day with which students indicate their typical food patterns. The back of each food card indicates the contribution that a serving of the food made to a food group. We conducted a field test with 532 third-grade to sixth-grade students from 12 schools in 6 states to determine validity, scoring accuracy, and usability with diverse groups. Overall, students selected foods that we considered typical of usual meal patterns in the United States, although total daily energy intake from the selected foods was somewhat lower than the RDAs for these age groups. Teacher-calculated scores agreed reasonably well with computer-calculated scores. This device that assesses food behavior rather than nutrition knowledge may be useful as part of the evaluation instrumentation for nutrition education programs in elementary schools.

RELATIONSHIP AND PREDICTION OF INFANT TESTS

Summary This study was designed to evaluate how a series of measures made on 77 infants at ages 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months could be used to predict measures made at about 5 years of age. The analytical procedures were selected to be sensitive to differences among individuals in the function that relates test performance to age. Neither evidence for such heterogeneity nor incremental validity of the measures made at 18 months and earlier was obtained. It is concluded that the Gesell Developmental Schedule, the Cattell Infant intelligence Scale, and the California Infant Scale of Motor Development, administered at 18 months and earlier, are invalid both as static indicators of later performance and as dynamic indicators of development.

The Social Competency Scale for Preschool-Age Children: Its Development and Factorial Validity:

The Iowa Social Competency Scale-Preschool (ISCS-P) was developed as a paper-and-pencil test for parents to measure typical behavior of preschool-age children as they function within the family setting. After preliminary testing with 133 parents of preschool-age children, a 60-item test was administered to 436 rural and urban parents (250 mothers, 186 fathers). The results of a factor analysis for each sex suggested a five-factor, 34-item form for mothers and a five-factor, 29-item form for the fathers. Social Activator, Hypersensitivity, Reassurance, Cooperativeness, and Uncooperativeness are the five factors of the mother form, whereas Social Activator, Hypersensitivity, Reassurance, Social Ineptness, and Attentiveness are the five factors of the father form. Although the factor names are the same in some instances, each factor has somewhat different items. Items for each form of the scale are given a 1 to 5 rating, and ratings are added for all items within a factor to obtain a factor

An Inventory for Assessing Food Behaviors of Elementary School Children

Abstract This report describes the development, field testing, and summary statistics of a series of inventories designed to assess the food behaviors of elementary school students, grades 1 to 6. The content is that found in elementary school food and nutrition curriculum guides and focuses upon personal cleanliness, personal safety, and food quality. Students respond to cartoon items by selecting 1 of 3 responses to indicate their typical behavior. From results of a national field test with 1,673 students in 75 classrooms, we developed equivalent forms of the inventory. These inventories may serve as a valid and reliable part of a battery of instruments for evaluation of nutrition education programs.

Assessment of Child-Rearing Behaviors of Midwestern Rural Parents

The Iowa Parent Behavior Inventory (IPBI) was developed and utilized as part of the NC-124 regional research project. Behaviors of rural Iowa parents (part of the regional project sample) were measured over a one-year period during which they remained relatively stable. When parent behaviors were analyzed in relation to a variety of demographic variables, parent and child ages were found to be the most salient variables. Negative correlations were found between age for both parents and the IPBI factors Reasoning Guidance and Intimacy and be tween the childs age and the IPBI Intimacy factor. Positive correlations were found between childs age and the IPBI factors Limit Setting and Reasoning Guidance. Number of siblings and ordinal position were negatively correlated with the IPBI factor Parental Involvement. Number of siblings was positively related to the IPBI factors Limit Setting and Responsiveness in fathers. Sex of child was not a significant demographic variable in the study.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Iowa Social Competency Scale for Preschool Children.

Convergent and discriminant validity of the Iowa Social Competency Scale-Preschool form (ISCS-P) was investigated by using the Campbell and Fiske validity model. The methods involved were observer, mother, father, and teacher ratings whereas the traits were the three factors of the ISCS-P (Social Activator, Reassurance, and Hypersensitivity). Subjects were 92 preschool-age children, their parents, and teachers. Data were subjected to pooled within teacher correlations and reported in the form of a multitrait-multimethod matrix. Results confirmed convergent and discriminant validity for the Social Activator factor. For the Reassurance factor, convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated for mother, father, and teacher ratings but not for observer ratings. Neither convergent nor discriminant validity was demonstrated for the Hypersensitivity factor.

The Iowa Pegboard Fine-Motor Task: Normative Performance and Research Applications

The Iowa Pegboard Fine-motor Task is a 60-sec. peg-placement task for use with preschool and school-age children. The instrument has demonstrated validity and reliability. Performance norms by age (means, standard deviations, and range) are presented for 865 observations (420 boys, 445 girls) of 510 Iowa children ranging in age from 33 to 138 mo. Regression analysis yielded the prediction formula: Ŷ = −8.205 + 0.619(age in mo.) − 0.002 (age in mo.)2. Moderate stability, based on 513 comparisons of repeated measures, is evident. Correlations of pegboard and PPVT scores, based on 541 observations of children 33 to 71 mo. of age, are positive and significant. The present findings enhance the use of the instrument in assessing current status of an individual child and/or in comparison within and between individuals.