Will web-based research suffice when collecting U.S. school district policies? The case of physical education and school-based nutrition policies

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recognizing the growing childhood overweight problem, a number of school-based strategies, including policy approaches, have been proposed and are being implemented to address the problem considering the amount of time children spend in schools. This paper describes the results of a pilot study that tested approaches to collecting U.S. school district policy information regarding physical education and nutrition requirements that can inform efforts by policy makers, researchers, advocates and others interested in collecting school district-level obesity-related policies that are typically not systematically available from a "one stop" source.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty local school districts representing six states were selected for conducting the district policy research, with larger, urban school districts over-sampled to facilitate collection of policies from districts representing a larger proportion of the public school population in each study state. The six states within which the pilot districts were located were chosen based on the variability in their physical education and school-based nutrition policy and geographic and demographic diversity. Web research and a mail canvass of the study districts was conducted between January and May 2006 to obtain all relevant policies. An additional field collection effort was conducted in a sample of districts located in three study states to test the extent to which field collection would yield additional information.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Policies were obtained from 40 (67%) of the 60 districts, with policies retrieved via both Web and mail canvass methods in 16 (27%) of the districts, and were confirmed to not exist in 10 (17%) of the districts. Policies were more likely to be retrieved from larger, urban districts, whereas the smallest districts had no policies available on the Web. In no instances were exactly the same policies retrieved from the two sources. Physical education policies were slightly more prevalent than nutrition policies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collection of U.S. local school district policies requires a multi-pronged approach. Web research and mail canvasses will likely yield different types of policy information. Given the variance in district-level Web site presence, researchers and others interested in obtaining district physical education and nutrition-related policies should consider supplementing Web research with more direct methods.</p

Introducing equating methodologies to compare test scores from two different self-regulation scales

Abstract Standardizing the measurement tools that researchers use to assess the effectiveness of interventions would strengthen our ability to compare results across studies. In practice, however, standardization is difficult to implement, in part, because researchers prefer to use measurement tools that focus specifically on the components of their interventions. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of item response modeling linking methodology in comparing groups of participants who were administered different scales intended to measure the same underlying constructs. The Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) as it relates to diet improvement provided the empirical application to demonstrate how two different scales that measure the same construct can be compared. The results showed that two eight-item TSRQ scales can be linked if they have at least four items in common. As expected, varying the number of linking items did not affect the reliability of the results; however, it significantly affected the relative rating with respect to the 15-item scale. In health behavior and health education research, linking methodologies can be used to compare results across studies that use slightly different versions of a scale to measure the same construct

Waiting for child developmental and rehabilitation services: an overview of issues and needs

Concern about the length of time that children, young people, and families may have to wait to access assessment, diagnostic, interventional, therapeutic, and supportive child developmental and rehabilitation (CDR) services is widespread, but adequate data collection and research on this issue remain limited. We review key concepts and issues relevant to waiting for CDR services from the published literature, a national workshop devoted to this topic, and international experience. We conclude that gaps in data, evidence, and consensus challenge our ability to address the issue of waiting for CDR services in a systematic way. A program of research coupled with actions based on consensus-building is required. Research priorities include acquiring evidence of the appropriateness and effectiveness of different models of intervention and rehabilitation services, and documenting the experience and expectations of waiting families. Consensus-building processes are critical to identify, categorize, and prioritize \u27sentinel\u27 components of CDR service pathways: (1) to reduce the inherent complexity of the field; (2) to create benchmarks for waiting for these respective services; and (3) to develop definitions for wait-time subcomponents in CDR services. Collection of accurate and replicable data on wait times for CDR services can be used to document baseline realities, to monitor and improve system performance, and to conduct comparative and analytic research in the field of CDR services

Constructing indices representing supportiveness of the physical environment for walking using the Rasch measurement model

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were to use the Rasch model to 1) assess the psychometric properties of a physical environmental audit instrument and 2) to develop indices of interrelated environmental attributes that summarize environmental supportiveness for walking. METHODS: A set of items were derived representing two conceptual physical environmental constructs: 1) functional/safety, and; 2) aesthetics. Ad hoc criteria based on point-biserial and Rasch-based fit statistics were used to examine the construct validity and internal reliability of the two constructs. RESULTS: The Rasch-based fit statistics assisted in identifying 12 items that belonged to the functional/safety construct and 4 items that belonged to the aesthetic construct. The reliability of the two constructs were low to moderate (functional/safety r(β )= 0.19 and aesthetics r(β )= 0.35). CONCLUSION: Given the vast number of built environmental attributes, a means of developing summary indices is essential. Future studies should assess the reliability and validity of indices that summarize physical environmental characteristics conducive to walking before testing them in predictive models of physical activity. More research examining procedures for measuring the built environment and techniques for analyzing environmental data are needed to guide future research in this area

COMPARING THE VALIDITY OF FIVE PARTICIPATION INSTRUMENTS IN PERSONS WITH SPINAL CONDITIONS

Objective: To evaluate and compare the construct validity of 5 participation instruments developed using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Methods: A total of 545 subjects diagnosed and treated for a spinal condition at an acute hospital were followed-up and consented to complete a questionnaire. Subjects completed 5 participation instruments (Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA), Keele Assessment of Participation (KAP), Participation Measure-Post Acute Care (PM-PAC), Participation Objective Participation Subjective (POPS), World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS II)). In addition, each subject completed a health status instrument and a quality of life instrument. The dimensionality, convergent/discriminant validity and known-group validity of the participation instruments were assessed. Results: A confirmatory factor analysis of the facture structure for the IPA and PM-PAC demonstrated adequate model fit. For convergent/discriminant validity, correlations were generally higher among similar domains of the WHODAS II, IPA, KAP and PM-PAC, and as expected the lowest correlations were observed with the objective domains of the POPS. Most instruments demonstrated known-group validity. Conclusion: Differences in the construct validity evidence of the POPS compared with the other 4 instruments were noted. To date, there is no gold standard for measuring participation, and clinicians and researchers should consider the type of information required prior to selecting an instrument

Gymnastic-Based Movement Therapy for Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Results From a Pilot Feasibility Study

Background: Developmental and behavioral issues often limit the participation of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) in community-based activities with their peers, which decreases opportunities for their social learning and development. Parents of children with NDD seek out programs that address physical and psychosocial development. Several studies already support the positive effects for the child to attend physical activity programs (PAPs). However, these studies are highly prone to biases and Hawthorne effect. In the planning stage of a large prospective study to assess the effectiveness of PAPs we reviewed the records of children who participated in a gymnastic-based program, the Empowering Steps Movement Therapy (ESMT). Besides generating useful data for developing the prospective study we thought these data reflect the rate of changes in context of normal practice in a naturalistic environment; therefore protected from Hawthorne effect and other biases.Design: This is a historical cohort: the files of 67 children with NDD were examined across a 2-year period (Jan 2011 to Jan 2013). As part of standard practice, the ESMT therapists document changes in motor function every 6 months, using the ESMT's proprietary motor scale. Parents also completed a parental questionnaire in June 2011 regarding their perceptions of changes in their child's physical and psychosocial function, as well as family functioning since their child started the program.Results: Linear Mixed Effects Model clearly identified three groups according to changes in motor function: the ones with rapid changes (mostly functional children with autism spectrum disorder: n = 13), the ones with moderate changes (different types of NDD diagnoses: n = 41) and the ones that did not change or even decreased motor skills over the follow-up (children with complex diseases or uncontrolled epilepsy despite treatment: n = 13). Parental questionnaires (n = 39) reported improvement in most of the children's physical and psychosocial abilities; they also indicated improvement in some of the family parameters. There was no association between the changes in children's motor functions and parents' responses to the questionnaire.Conclusion: Despite limitations due to the retrospective nature of the study, the absence of a control group and the absence of validated measurement tools, the observed positive effects of attending movement therapy center on motor performance and psychosocial development confirm in a naturalistic environment what has been shown in context of clinical trials or quasi-experimental studies. These results are not conclusive. They warrant further, rigorous investigation using validated instruments, independent assessors, and control groups

Comparing the Validity of 2 Physical Activity Questionnaire Formats in African-American and Hispanic Women

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the validity of 2 physical activity questionnaire formats - one that lists activities (Checklist questionnaire) and one that assesses overall activities (Global questionnaire) by domain. Methods: Two questionnaire formats were validated among 260 African-American and Hispanic women (age 40-70) using 3 validation standards: 1) accelerometers to validate activities of ambulation; 2) diaries to validate physical activity domains (occupation, household, exercise, yard, family, volunteer/church work, and transportation); and 3) doubly-labeled water to validate physical activity energy expenditure (DLW-PAEE). Results: The proportion of total variance explained by the Checklist questionnaire was 38.4% with diaries, 9.0% with accelerometers, and 6.4% with DLW-PAEE. The Global questionnaire explained 17.6% of the total variance with diaries and about 5% with both accelerometers and with DLW-PAEE. Overall, associations with the 3 validation standards were slightly better with the Checklist questionnaire. However, agreement with DLW-PAEE was poor with both formats and the Checklist format resulted in greater overestimation. Validity results also indicated the Checklist format was better suited to recall household, family, and transportation activities. Conclusions: Overall, the Checklist format had slightly better measurement properties than the Global format. Both questionnaire formats are better suited to rank individuals

Food parenting practices for 5 to 12 year old children: a concept map analysis of parenting and nutrition experts input

Abstract Background Parents are an important influence on children’s dietary intake and eating behaviors. However, the lack of a conceptual framework and inconsistent assessment of food parenting practices limits our understanding of which food parenting practices are most influential on children. The aim of this study was to develop a food parenting practice conceptual framework using systematic approaches of literature reviews and expert input. Method A previously completed systematic review of food parenting practice instruments and a qualitative study of parents informed the development of a food parenting practice item bank consisting of 3632 food parenting practice items. The original item bank was further reduced to 110 key food parenting concepts using binning and winnowing techniques. A panel of 32 experts in parenting and nutrition were invited to sort the food parenting practice concepts into categories that reflected their perceptions of a food parenting practice conceptual framework. Multi-dimensional scaling produced a point map of the sorted concepts and hierarchical cluster analysis identified potential solutions. Subjective modifications were used to identify two potential solutions, with additional feedback from the expert panel requested. Results The experts came from 8 countries and 25 participated in the sorting and 23 provided additional feedback. A parsimonious and a comprehensive concept map were developed based on the clustering of the food parenting practice constructs. The parsimonious concept map contained 7 constructs, while the comprehensive concept map contained 17 constructs and was informed by a previously published content map for food parenting practices. Most of the experts (52%) preferred the comprehensive concept map, while 35% preferred to present both solutions. Conclusion The comprehensive food parenting practice conceptual map will provide the basis for developing a calibrated Item Response Modeling (IRM) item bank that can be used with computerized adaptive testing. Such an item bank will allow for more consistency in measuring food parenting practices across studies to better assess the impact of food parenting practices on child outcomes and the effect of interventions that target parents as agents of change