Abstract
Food allergies (FAs) in children are increasingly common, and strict allergen avoidance and safety concerns place parents at risk for anxiety (Lau et al. in Pediatr Allergy Immunol 25:236–242, 2014). Assessing parental anxiety with generic instruments may not capture the unique experience of parents managing children’s FAs. This study developed and preliminarily validated the 13-item Worry About Food Allergy (WAFA) questionnaire, a measure of FA-specific parental anxiety, in an online sample of 265 parents aged 22–66 (M = 40.25) of children with FAs. The WAFA showed good internal reliability (Cronbach’s α = .89) and moderate convergent validity with other anxiety measures, indicating support for a reliable measure of a discrete, specific construct. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a single factor structure. Criterion validity was established through significant, small, positive correlations with relevant allergy variables. A coherent single factor measure, the WAFA, shows promise as a screening tool for parental anxiety in pediatric practice and FA management.
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Please contact the senior author, Catherine Peterson, PhD, at cpeter39@emich.edu for updated versions of the measure for clinical or research purposes.
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Stefanie Poehacker, Alix McLaughlin, Tori Humiston, and Catherine Peterson declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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Poehacker, S., McLaughlin, A., Humiston, T. et al. Assessing Parental Anxiety in Pediatric Food Allergy: Development of the Worry About Food Allergy Questionnaire. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 28, 447–456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-020-09737-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-020-09737-1