The Screening Tool of Feeding Problems applied to children (STEP-CHILD): Psychometric characteristics and associations with child and parent variables

The present study evaluated the 23-item Screening Tool for Feeding Problems (STEP; Matson & Kuhn, 2001) with a sample of children referred to a hospital-based feeding clinic to examine the scale's psychometric characteristics and then demonstrate how a children's revision of the STEP, the STEP-CHILD is associated with child and parent variables. Participants included 142 children (95 boys, 47 girls; mean age=61.4 months; 43 with autism, 51 with other special needs, 48 with no special needs). Children ranged in age from 24 months to 18 years. Factor analysis revealed a 15-item STEP-CHILD with six subscales of child feeding problems: CHEWING PROBLEMS, RAPID EATING, FOOD REFUSAL, FOOD SELECTIVITY, VOMITING, and STEALING FOOD. Mediation analysis documented that " overly permissive" actions by parents (such as infrequent insistence on eating during meals, or frequent preparation of Special Meals for children different than the family meal) explained over 34% of the links between children's feeding problems and poor weight and diet outcomes.