title: The development and validation of the childhood obesity prevention self-efficacy (COP-SE) survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physicians can play an important role in preventing and treating childhood obesity. There are currently no validated measures of medical students' self-efficacy in these skills; therefore, we sought to develop a valid and reliable computerized survey to measure medical students' self-efficacy in skills needed to prevent and treat childhood obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We developed the Childhood Obesity Prevention Self-Efficacy (COP-SE) survey with input from two expert panels and cognitive interviews with medical students. We administered the 43-item COP-SE computerized survey to a nation-wide sample of medical students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The final sample consisted of 444 medical students from 53 medical schools. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure with a correlation of 0.637 between factors and high reliability within factors. The correlation between the COP-SE and a measure of general self-efficacy was moderate (0.648), and reliability within factors was high (Factor 1=0.946; Factor 2=0.927).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 18-item COP-SE is a valid and reliable measure of childhood obesity prevention self-efficacy. Factor 1 assesses self-efficacy in nutrition counseling, and Factor 2 measures self-efficacy to assess readiness to change and initiate nutrition lifestyle changes. The correlation between the COP-SE and a measure of general self-efficacy indicates that the COP-SE is a distinct, valid assessment of domain-specific self-efficacy. The high reliability of items within factors indicates the items measure the same constructs. Therefore, medical schools can use this valid and reliable instrument as a formative or summative assessment of students' self-efficacy in childhood obesity prevention and treatment.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, NC.
authors.forename: Natalie K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nietfeld
authors.forename: L Suzanne
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Goodell
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016730:Program Development; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States