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Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on November 3, 2006
Health Education Research 2006 21(Supplement 1):i85-i97; doi:10.1093/her/cyl137
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© 2006 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Innovative application of a multidimensional item response model in assessing the influence of social desirability on the pseudo-relationship between self-efficacy and behavior

Kathy Watson1,*, Tom Baranowski1, Debbe Thompson1, Russell Jago2, Janice Baranowski1 and Lisa M. Klesges3

1 Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, 1100 Bates Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
2 Department of Exercise and Health, Centre for Sport and Exercise, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TP, UK
3 Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105, USA

* Correspondence to: K. Watson. E-mail: kwatson{at}bcm.tmc.edu

This study examined multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) modeling to assess social desirability (SocD) influences on self-reported physical activity self-efficacy (PASE) and fruit and vegetable self-efficacy (FVSE). The observed sample included 473 Houston-area adolescent males (10–14 years). SocD (nine items), PASE (19 items) and FVSE (21 items) were measured with previously validated self-report instruments containing Likert-type responses. Physical activity was objectively measured using the Computer Science Application Incorporated/Manufacturing Technology Incorporated (CSA/MTI) accelerometer. Total fruit, juice and vegetable consumption was measured with a food frequency questionnaire. Correlations between self-efficacy and behaviors were minimal, regardless of controlling for SocD. However, in a simulated sample derived to demonstrate the utility of MIRT when relationships exist, the pseudo-relationships between self-efficacy and behaviors were substantially weaker after controlling for SocD. MIRT provided disattenuated correlations between SocD and self-efficacy, thereby providing more precise estimates of the real influence of SocD on the relationship between self-efficacy and behavior. However, as shown in the observed sample, more research is needed to understand the influence of SocD on the relationship between self-efficacy and behaviors for different populations and for different degrees of SocD response bias.


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