Evaluation of the Validity of Mi Niño a la Hora de Comer Parent Self-Assessment of Food Parenting Behaviors with Videotaped Mealtime Behaviors

Mi Niño a la Hora de Comer (Mi Niño) is a visually enhanced, Spanish language, parent self-assessment tool designed to measure food parenting behaviors of low-income, Spanish-speaking caregivers of preschool-aged children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the construct and convergent validity of Mi Niño. Videotaped mealtime behaviors at home were used to test for Mi Niño construct validity. Concurrent caregiver reports of general parenting styles and children's BMI were used to test for convergent validity with Mi Niño scores. Data was drawn from the Niños Sanos study collected between 2016-2017. Participants (N=273) were recruited through Head Start and WIC centers in the Sacramento, California metropolitan area and were eligible if they were at least 18 years of age, the primary caregiver of a child between the ages of 3 to 5 years, declared Spanish as their preferred language, and were enrolled in Head Start or WIC. Participants who completed Mi Niño, general parenting style surveys and child anthropometric measurements (N=199) were included in the current analysis. A subset of participants self-selected to complete a videotaped mealtime in their homes (n = 60). Video corruption occurred with one video, resulting in a (n = 59) final videotape sample. Parent-centered and child-centered parent mealtime behaviors obtained via observed mealtimes, child BMI z-scores, and self-reports of general parenting styles were used to assess validity of Mi Niño scores. Two-way ANOVAs were used to assess differences in Mi Niño scores by observed mealtime behaviors, and linear regression was used to test associations between Mi Niño scores and child BMI z-scores and general parenting styles. Parent-centered Mi Niño scores were positively associated with the rate of observed parent-centered behaviors (F = 2.49, p < .05) and negatively with child BMI z-scores (r = -0.19, p < .01). Parent-centered Mi Niño scores were positively associated with parent self-assessments of authoritarian general parenting styles (r = 0.35, p < .01) and child-centered Mi Niño scores were positively associated with parent self-assessments of authoritative general parenting styles (r = 0.44, p < .01). Results provide partial support for construct and convergent validity of the Mi Niño self-assessment tool to assess food parenting behaviors with Spanish-speaking caregivers of young children who have low incomes.