The chinese version of the decisional balance scale: further validation.

BACKGROUND: Although the Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) has been established to have sound psychometric properties, the reliability and validity of this instrument have not been evaluated in different populations. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to conduct psychometric validations for the Chinese version of the DBS (CDBS). METHODS: This research project was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study. The CDBS was administered to children in Grades 5-9 (ages 11-17 years, n = 952) recruited from elementary and junior high schools in northern Taiwan. A random cluster sampling method was used. RESULTS: The pros and cons subscales were supported by Cronbach's alpha coefficients of .88 and .85, respectively. Item-to-subtotal correlation coefficients for the subscales were above .48. The results from confirmatory factor analysis, used to assess the construct validity of the CDBS, indicated that the two-factor structure was the best fit for the CDBS when it was used with Taiwanese adolescents (comparative fit index = .96). The contrasted group approach affirmed the construct validity of the pros and the cons of the CDBS. The validity and reliability of the CDBS were supported by the psychometric test results of this study. DISCUSSION: The CDBS is congruent with the culture of Taiwanese adolescents. However, to expand the usefulness of this tool across cultures, the CDBS should continue to be tested with other Chinese-speaking populations and settings.

Considering the factors of gender and body weight in the promotion of healthy behavior among adolescents.

Obesity among adolescents is increasing in both developed and developing countries. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the roles that gender and body weight variables play in health-related behavior. This article examines the effects of these two variables on health-related behavior in Taiwanese adolescents. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used with three body weight categories (underweight, average and overweight) and two gender categories (female and male). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Student's t test, and one-way ANOVA with Scheffe's post hoc test. The results showed that average weight adolescents scored significantly higher than their overweight peers in the three dimensions of social support, health responsibility, and exercise behavior. Average weight adolescents also scored higher than the underweight group in the dimension of health responsibility. Girls scored significantly better than boys in five out of the total six health-related behavior - scoring lower only in the exercise dimension. These findings should sound an alarm for all public health professionals to take heed to what is happening to our youth. School and family health promotion counseling should be encouraged for overweight adolescents to improve their exercise and lifestyle habits. Based on the findings, school health promotion programs should focus on gender differences. Girls, in particular, need encouragement to improve their exercise habits.

Adolescent health promotion scale: development and psychometric testing.

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a newly devised instrument, the Adolescent Health Promotion scale (AHP), a 40-item Likert-type self-report instrument used to detect unhealthy lifestyles in adolescents. Content validity was considered to be supported based on the findings of previous studies and the observations of a panel of 14 content experts. This study examined the construct validity and reliability of the instrument. The psychometric properties of the AHP, including item analysis, factor analysis, and reliability measures, were assessed based on the responses of 1,128 Taiwanese adolescents. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measures and Bartlett's sphericity test showed that the samples met the criteria for factor analysis. Factor analysis yielded a six-factor instrument that explained 51.14% of the variance in the 40 items. The six factors were social support, life appreciation, health responsibility, nutritional behaviors, exercise behaviors, and stress management. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the total scale was 0.932, and alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.75 to 0.88. The results of this study indicate that the AHP has good construct validity and reliability in Taiwanese and that its use by school health nurses to assess adolescent health promotion programs is warranted.