Confirmatory factor analysis of the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and associations with infant weight, gender and feeding mode in an Australian sample

• The factor structure of the BEBQ was tested via CFA in 467 mothers of 4 month olds.
• The hypothesised four-factor model was a poor fit in this sample.
• Removal of Satiety responsiveness factor resulted in a three-factor model with good fit.
• Enjoyment of food, Food responsiveness and Slowness eating factors were reliable.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (BEBQ) in an Australian community sample of mother–infant dyads. A secondary aim was to explore the relationship between the BEBQ subscales and infant gender, weight and current feeding mode. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) utilising structural equation modelling examined the hypothesised four-factor model of the BEBQ. Only mothers (N = 467) who completed all items on the BEBQ (infant age: M = 17 weeks, SD = 3 weeks) were included in the analysis. The original four-factor model did not provide an acceptable fit to the data due to poor performance of the Satiety responsiveness factor. Removal of this factor (three items) resulted in a well-fitting three-factor model. Cronbach's α was acceptable for the Enjoyment of food (α = 0.73), Food responsiveness (α = 0.78) and Slowness in eating (α = 0.68) subscales but low for the Satiety responsiveness (α = 0.56) subscale. Enjoyment of food was associated with higher infant weight whereas Slowness in eating and Satiety responsiveness were both associated with lower infant weight. Differences on all four subscales as a function of feeding mode were observed. This study is the first to use CFA to evaluate the hypothesised factor structure of the BEBQ. Findings support further development work on the Satiety responsiveness subscale in particular, but confirm the utility of the Enjoyment of food, Food responsiveness and Slowness in eating subscales.