Development and initial validation of the Campus Food Aid Self-Assessment Tool.

Objective

To develop and evaluate a survey instrument assessing campus responses to college student food insecurity.

Participants

Experts in college student food insecurity and/or survey development participated in expert panel review. College representatives participated in cognitive interviewing and the pilot study.

Methods

Expert panel review, cognitive interviewing, and exploratory factor analysis determined instrument face and content validity. Internal consistency tests assessed reliability.

Results

Expert panelists (n = 7) and cognitive interviewing participants (n = 8) confirmed face and content validity. Sampling was not adequate to support factor analysis (KMO < 0.7). Internal consistency tests confirmed instrument reliability (Cronbach's α ≥ 0.60). In the pilot study, campuses had the highest average scores for campus advocacy (M = 2.79, SD = 0.67). No schools reported the ability to meet all nutritional needs of food insecure students.

Conclusions

This study establishes preliminary validation for an instrument for assessment of campus food insecurity response.