The Validity and Reliability of Exercise Behavior Change Scales

Aim: The purpose of this methodological study is to adapt “Exercise Processes of Change Scale,Exercise Decisional Balance Scale and Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale” developed by Marcus (1992) into Turkish language and culture, to examine validity and reliability of Turkish forms of these questionnaires. Material and Methods: The study sample consists of individuals who are registered to Gölbaşı/Ankara Community Education Center. Data was colected by “Personal Information Form” and “Stages of Change Model Scale”. Permissions were taken from the owner of Scale, the institution, the participants and Ethical Commission of Gazi University. In data analysis, relating to the validity of the scale, validity language, content and construct (confirmatory factor analysis, X2 compliance testing, comparative and normalized fit index, goodness of fit index, root mean square error of the mean and approximation errors); relating to the reliability of the scale, subscale-total correlation and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was used. Results: The study was conducted with 400 individuals. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that Exercise Processes of Change Scale factor loading values were between 0.64 and 0.90, Exercise Decisional Balance Scale factor loading values were between 0.55 and 0.73, Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale factor loading values were between 0.62 and 0.84. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of Exercise Processes of Change Scale, Exercise Decisional Balance Scale and Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale were found respectively as 0.97, 0.90, 0.85. The factor structures of the original instrument were confirmed for Turkish culture via calculated fit indexes analysis. Conclusion: It was concluded that Exercise Processes of Change Scale, Exercise Decisional Balance Scale and Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale which had been developed for adults, are instruments that are congruent with Turkish language and culture and Turkish form of the scale can yield valid and reliable measurements.