Women's confidence to consume adequate servings of milk products: validation of a summated rating scale.

Abstract

To design and validate a scale to assess women's confidence to consume adequate servings of milk products. Using the electoral rolls as a sampling frame, two large random population surveys of women aged 25-70 years were conducted. The structure of the self-efficacy scale was explored in the first survey of 500 women, and the component structure was refined and confirmed in an independent sample of 1200 women. The final single component self-efficacy scale consisted of nine items to assess confidence to consume milk products in various situations. Confidence was higher in women who were already consuming adequate servings of milk products than in women who were not yet ready to consume adequate servings of milk products, providing construct validity for the scale. The data provide preliminary support for the validity of the self-efficacy scale. The potential usefulness of the scale in interventions designed to improve women's milk product consumption is discussed.