Factorial invariance and latent mean structure of questionnaires measuring social-cognitive determinants of physical activity among black and white adolescent girls.
BACKGROUND
We previously developed questionnaires based on contemporary theories to measure physical activity determinants among youth [Motl et al., Prev Med 2000; 31:584-94]. The present study examined the factorial invariance and latent mean structure of unidimensional models fit to the questionnaires measuring attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and self-efficacy about physical activity among black and white adolescent girls.


METHODS
Black (n = 896) and white (n = 823) girls in the 8th grade completed the questionnaires measuring attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and self-efficacy about physical activity. The responses were subjected to analyses of factorial invariance and latent mean structure using confirmatory factor analysis with full-information maximum likelihood estimation in AMOS 4.0.


RESULTS
The unidimensional models of the four questionnaires generally demonstrated invariance of the factor structure, factor loadings, and factor variance across race but not invariance of the variance-covariance matrices or item uniquenesses. The analyses of latent mean structure demonstrated that white girls had higher latent mean scores on the measures of attitude and self-efficacy than black girls; there were similar, but smaller, differences between white and black girls on the measures of subjective norm and perceived behavioral control.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaires can be employed in interventions to test the mediating influences of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and self-efficacy on participation in physical activity by black and white adolescent girls.
Dishman
R K
RK
Department of Exercise Science, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-6554, USA. rdishman@coe.uga.edu
Motl
R W
RW
Saunders
R P
RP
Dowda
M
M
Felton
G
G
Ward
D S
DS
Pate
R R
RR
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003071:Cognition; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013022:South Carolina; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*