Development of a Comprehensive Questionnaire Evaluating Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding University Student Food Access Resource Use

To develop a comprehensive questionnaire which assesses food security and knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) regarding food access resources at a large public university. A comprehensive food security and food resource questionnaire was developed by a panel of nutrition and survey design experts for use with university students. The questionnaire underwent two rounds of cognitive interviews with a diverse group of university students to ensure questions were understood as intended. Feedback from the first round of cognitive interviews was used to inform changes and improve clarity. The second round of cognitive interviews was used to clarify changes made to the questionnaire during the first round of interviews. Following the cognitive interviews, the questionnaire was reviewed by the panel of nutrition and survey design experts and finalized. Following a systematic approach, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed and finalized for use with university students. The initial questionnaire contained 40 questions. Following the first round of cognitive interviews (n = 15 students) 34 questions were revised, 7 questions were added and 1 question was removed. Following the second round of cognitive interviews (n = 10 students), Likert-scale questions were edited for simplicity, and question formatting was edited to emphasize differences in questions that were otherwise identical. Before distribution, 7 questions about food choice were added, food security screening questions were added, and skip-logic was incorporated into the questionnaire and tested. The final questionnaire evaluates food resource KAPs and contains 68 items, including questions from the 10-item USDA Food Security Module, and newly developed questions regarding student food choice motivations, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption habits, knowledge/awareness of food access resources, perceptions of food access resources, current student concerns/stressors, and financial considerations. This newly developed questionnaire has been distributed to 10,000 University of California, Davis students. Future applications for this questionnaire include distribution at other universities and colleges within California. This project was funded by an internal University of California, Davis research grant.