title: Validity of the Perceived Health Competence Scale in a UK primary care setting.
abstract: The Perceived Health Competence Scale (PHCS) is a measure of self-efficacy regarding general health-related behaviour. This brief paper examines the psychometric properties of the PHCS in a UK context. Questionnaires containing the PHCS, the SF-36 and questions about perceived health needs were posted to 486 patients randomly selected from a GP practice list. Complete questionnaires were returned by 320 patients. Analyses of these responses provide strong evidence for the validity of the PHCS in this setting. Consequently, we conclude that the PHCS is a useful addition to measures of global self-efficacy and measures of self-efficacy regarding specific behaviours in the toolkit of health psychologists. This range of self-efficacy assessment tools will ensure that psychologists can match the level of specificity of the measure of expectancy beliefs to the level of specificity of the outcome of interest.
authors: School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, UK. m.dempster@qub.ac.uk
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Dempster
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Donnelly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires