Development and Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Adolescent Sleep Health Belief Scale

Abstract

AIM: This study aimed to develop a scale based on the Health Belief Model that can reliably and validly evaluate adolescents’ beliefs toward sleep. METHODS: This study was conducted using a methodological design with 494 adolescents between September and October 2022 in Antalya, Türkiye . Eighty-one items about sleep were created according to the Health Belief Model. Validity was assessed in terms of content and construct validity, and reliability was assessed through internal consistency. Content validity was evaluated by ten expert opinions. The scale was tested for construct validity with exploratory factor analysis, after which the scale’s reliability was evaluated by examining item-total correlations using Pearson’s correlation analysis and assessing internal consistency with Cronbach’s Alpha. RESULTS: Item-level content validity index scores ranged between 0.80 and 1. The scale-level content validity index value was found to be 0.94. In the exploratory factor analysis of the 46-item scale, six factors were found with an eigenvalue greater than 1, explaining 57.7% of the total variance. The scale’s itemtotal correlations ranged from 0.26 to 0.79. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the subscales were 0.92 for perceived susceptibility, 0.90 for perceived severity, 0.90 for perceived benefits, 0.81 for self-efficacy, 0.79 for motivation, and 0.69 for perceived barriers. CONCLUSION: The Adolescent Sleep Health Belief Scale demonstrated good validity and reliability in adolescents. Its cross-cultural adaptation for use with adolescents in other countries is recommended. © 2025, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing. All rights reserved.