Psychometric evaluation of the food neophobia scale and its association with prenatal attachment in Turkish pregnant women: a cross-sectional study

Pregnancy is a critical period that shapes both maternal and fetal health outcomes, and maternal dietary behavior plays a key role in this process. Food neophobia—defined as the reluctance to try unfamiliar foods—may limit dietary diversity during pregnancy. However, the applicability and psychometric validity of the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) among pregnant populations remain underexplored. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the FNS in pregnant women and its relationship with prenatal attachment and associated factors. This cross-sectional study included 500 pregnant women in the third trimester in Erzurum, Türkiye. Participants completed the 10-item FNS and the 21-item Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). After psychometric evaluation, Item 8 was excluded from the factor-analytic model because of its poor psychometric performance; therefore, the final two-factor structure and factor-based regression analyses were based on nine items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the scale structure. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the associations among food neophobia, prenatal attachment, and demographic variables. Factor analysis supported a two-factor model of the FNS, comprising Willingness and Trust and Rejection and Particularity, with acceptable model fit indices (CFI = 0.974, TLI = 0.964, RMSEA = 0.0731 [90% CI: 0.0577–0.0891], and SRMR = 0.0339). Significant negative correlations were found between the total PAI score and the original 10-item total FNS score (ρ = −0.183, p < 0.001), and between the total PAI score and several individual FNS items ( p < 0.01). In the adjusted models, both FNS factors were inversely associated with prenatal attachment. Maternal age and employment status were also consistently associated with PAI scores. Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent associations for both FNS factors. The findings provide preliminary support for a two-factor, 9-item structure of the FNS among pregnant women and indicate a weak but statistically significant inverse association between prenatal attachment and food neophobia.