Psychometric properties of the screening tool of feeding problems (STEP) in Turkish children with ASD

The purpose of this study is to determine the psychometric properties of the screening tool of feeding problems (STEP) in Turkish children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). After providing linguistic equivalence of the scale, STEP was applied to 360 mothers on behalf of their children with ASD in order to determine the associated feeding problems. The scale which has 5 sub-domains and 3 Likert-type questions originally consisted of 23 items. Item-total correlations of the scale were acceptable, with the exception of item 8 and the differences between the item averages of the upper 27% and the lower 27% groups were significant (p < 0.001). The internal consistency coefficient (α = 0.81) and the split-half reliability (Spearman's rho = 0.69**) were high. The STEP achieved criterion-related validity. The results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (χ2/df = 3.2, RMSEA = 0.08, SRMR = 0.08, GFI = 0.85, AGFI = 0.81, CFI = 0.86) showed that the scale has an acceptable goodness of fit. This study suggests that the Turkish version of the STEP could be a useful assessment tool when it comes to measuring feeding problems in children with ASD.