Objective: The current study examined proxy efficacy, which was defined as youth's confidence to influence their parents to provide fruits and vegetables. The overall objective was to examine change in middle-school youth's proxy efficacy over time, and to determine if changes were moderated by gender and socio-economic status.
Design: Longitudinal cohort nested within schools.
Setting: Eight middle schools located in urban, suburban and rural areas of a mid-western US state.
Subjects: Seven hundred and twelve youth followed across their 6th, 7th and 8th grade years. The sample was 51.8 % female, 30.5 % low socio-economic status and 89.5 % Caucasian, non-Hispanic.
Results: Males and lower socio-economic status youth were significantly lower in proxy efficacy at each assessment year compared with females and high socio-economic youth, respectively.
Conclusions: Proxy efficacy to influence parents to provide fruits and vegetables may be an important construct to target in future interventions.