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Tuesday, November 3, 2009: 1:35 PM
Learning Objective 1: understand the approaches used to determine the factor structure of the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale - Revised (ASAS-R).
Learning Objective 2: recognize that the 15-item ASAS-R has internal consistency, homogeneity, construct validity, and a very good model fit.
Self-care agency (SCA) is a fundamental concept in nursing and health care research. An individual’s level of SCA may determine his or her health-promoting behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure of the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency-Revised (ASAS-R) among individuals from the general population. The theory of self-care and the classic and modern measurement theories served as the theoretical framework for this study. The sample consisted of 629 adults who were randomly selected using a computer program to conduct an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA; N = 240) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA; N = 389) of the scale. A demographic questionnaire developed for this study, the ASAS-R, and the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) were the measures used to collect the data. The study’s findings indicated that the ASAS-R’s internal consistency was a Cronbach’s alpha = .89. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients between the total score of the ASAS-R and the total score of the HPLP-II were strongly correlated (r=.64, p<.01). The total score of the ASAS-R also was significantly correlated with all the subscales of the HPLP-II (ranged from r=.46 to r=.61, p<.01). The EFA with varimax factor rotation generated three factors that explained 61.7% of the item variance of the ASAS-R. The CFA suggested that among the three models tested, a 15-item ASAS-R three-factor model yielded the best factor structure for the scale. The fit measures for this 15-item ASAS-R three-factor model were: CMIN/DF=1.97, GFI=.94, AGFI=.92, CFI=.96, RMR=.05, RMSEA=.05. The factor loadings ranged from .58 to .74 and the squared multiple correlations ranged from .34 to .55. Thus, the 15-item ASAS-R was found to have internal consistency, homogeneity, construct validity, and a very good model fit. The ASAS-R is potentially useful for measuring SCA in research and practice.