Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Decisional Balance Scale (CDBS) with native Taiwanese adolescents

Background

Establishing the reliability and validity of an instrument is essential for conducting research, as accurate measurement is fundamental to the research process. It is a challenging task to use an instrument on a sample from a different culture and language than the original population. Although the Chinese language version of the Decisional Balance Scale (CDBS) has been established with sound psychometric properties, the reliability and validity of this instrument has not been evaluated in native Taiwanese populations.

Objectives

To conduct psychometric validations for the CDBS with native Taiwanese children aged 9 to 11.

Method

This research project was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study with population survey. The CDBS was administered to 796 children in grades 4-5 recruited from all elementary schools of 2 native Taiwanese reserved areas in mid Taiwan.

Results

Cross validation method was used in this study. Exploratory factor analysis from half of sample size yielded two components for the CDBS accounting for 55.8% of the total variance, with alphas of .85 and .82 for the subscales. Item-to-subtotal correlation coefficients for the subscales were above 0.63. The results from confirmatory factor analysis with the rest of half sample indicated that the two-factor structure was the best fit for the CDBS when it was used with native Taiwanese adolescents (CFI = 0.97). The contrasted group approach affirmed the construct validity of the Pros and the Cons of the CDBS. Validity and reliability of the CDBS was supported by the psychometric test results of this study.

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that the CDBS is a valid and internally consistent instument. It is also feasible to use this instrument to study smoking attitudes among native Taiwanese adolescents.