Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure the decisional balance of elementary school children's health behavior, in which finishing off school lunch and tooth brushing were specifically focused upon, and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. In addition, the relationship between the measured decisional balance and the stage of change was investigated.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted to measure the level of the decisional balance among 880 elementary school children. After applying a factor analysis to the questionnaire answers, the reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire were estimated from the internal consistency and the confirmatory factor analysis. The scores of benefits (Pros) and costs (Cons) were compared in each stage of change.
Results: The factor analysis of the decisional balance scale indicated that it is constructed by two sub-scale labeled benefits (Pros) and costs (Cons). Five items for Pros and five items for Cons for finishing off school lunch and five items for Pros and three items for Cons for tooth brushing were effective. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for Pros and Cons for finishing off school lunch were 0.75 and 0.76, respectively. And those for tooth brushing were 0.78 and 0.81, respectively.
The excellent goodness-of-fit indices were obtained by the confirmatory factor analysis.
The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that the Pros and Cons scores differed significantly across the stages, that is, the Pros score increased as progressing stages and Cons score decreased.
Conclusions: The statistical analysis proved the reliability and validity of the proposed scale to measure the decisional balance of the elementary school children's health behavior with regard to finishing off school lunch and tooth brushing. The relationship between the decisional balance and the stage of change supports the original hypothesis.
