Abstract
Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to develop self-efficacy scales for the health practices of middle-aged male workers, including well-balanced diet, physical activity, sleep, drinking behavior, and smoking cessation. Methods : We administered a self-completed questionnaire to 1,000 male workers, using self-efficacy scale items, including ten items on well-balanced diet, seven items on physical activity, six items on sleep, eight items on drinking behavior, and eight items on smoking cessation derived from health guidance provided to 14 workers. Cronbach's Alpha coefficients (henceforth alpha) were calculated to confirm the reliability of the scales. The relationships between our scales and the workers' lifestyles, as well as between our scales and the Perceived Health Competence Scale, were examined to confirm the validity of our scales. Results : After factor analysis of 953 subjects, we identified two factors from the ten items on well-balanced diet: controlling eating habit and dealing with eating environment. We identified one factor each from the seven items on physical activity, the six items on sleep, the eight items on drinking behavior, and the eight items on smoking cessation. The alpha of well-balanced diet, physical activity, sleep, drinking behavior, and smoking cessation were 0.87, 0.90, 0.89, 0.92, and 0.94, respectively. The examination of the relationships between our scales and the workers' lifestyles showed that subjects who practiced recommended lifestyle habits recorded significantly higher scores than subjects who did not practice such habits. Correlation analysis of the relationships between our scales and the Perceived Health Competence Scale indicated that the well-balanced diet, physical activity, and sleep scales were all satisfactorily associated with the Perceived Health Competence Scale. Conclusions : Ten items on well-balanced diet, seven items on physical activity, six items on sleep, eight items on drinking behavior, and eight items on smoking cessation which we developed from our study could be used for intervention as self-efficacy scales for the health practices
