Development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Stage to Change in the Reduction of Childhood Overweight Scale (SCROS)

Objectives: the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the "Stage of change in the reduction of childhood overweight" scale by means of an exploratory factor analysis, and its reliability. This questionnaire is a new measure to identify the stage of awareness of the problem, and the willingness to change, in parents of children with overweight and obesity, based on the transtheoretical model by Prochaska and DiClemente (1983). Method: the study involved 484 women with school-aged children, of which 65.9 % were classified with obesity, and 34.1 % with overweight. Results: the SCROS psychometric characteristics were assessed, obtaining an internal consistency of 0.789 using Cronbach's alpha with 16 elements (items). By means of the Exploratory Factor Analysis four factors were obtained with eigen values higher than one, which explained 62.89 % of the total variance. The items were grouped in the following dimensions: Preparation (4 items), Precontemplation (4 items), Contemplation (4 items), and Action (4 items). Conclusions: the SCROS is a valid and reliable questionnaire to evaluate the stage in which parents of children with overweight and obesity problems are located, which will allow us to design more suitable interventions for these children and their families.