An Exploratory Study of High School Students' Intrinsic Motivation and Perceived Competence to Cook: Development of a Culinary Skills Curriculum and Survey Instrument

Abstract

Adolescents' lack of motivation and competence to cook may hinder consumption of a healthy diet; however, tools to estimate these behaviors are lacking. A survey to determine adolescents' intrinsic motivation (IM) and perceived competence (PC) to prepare healthy foods was developed based on the Self Determination Theory (SDT). Adolescents responded to statements pertaining to IM or PC using a 5‐point Likert Scale ranging from 1 “Disagree a lot” to 5 “Agree a lot.” Exploratory Factor Analysis using Principal Axis Factoring with a Promax (oblique) rotation returned 2 factors. Factor 1 statements described IM (45.2% of variance) and Factor 2 statements described PC (15.4% of variance). Chronbach's alpha for Factor 1 = 0.889 and Factor 2 = 0.889. The survey was tested with the Nutritional Health component of a 6‐week high school wellness pilot program offered to 20 public school students in southeast Louisiana. The curriculum included 6 lessons and taught culinary skills, nutrition education, and food safety. 13 students completed surveys before and after participating in the program. Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated a significant increase in IM from baseline (Mdn = 24) to completion (Mdn = 26), T = 6, p = 0.027, r = ‐0.434 and an increase in PC from baseline (Mdn = 18) to completion (Mdn = 22) T = 10.5, p = 0.044, r = ‐0.394. This survey was able to detect measurable change in these SDT constructs when used to evaluate a school‐based nutrition education pilot program for high school students. Funded by the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and Hatch Project 94127