title: Factor structure and internal reliability of an exercise health belief model scale in a Mexican population.
abstract: Mexico is one of the countries with the highest rates of overweight and obesity around the world, with 68.8% of men and 73% of women reporting both. This is a public health problem since there are several health related consequences of not exercising, like having cardiovascular diseases or some types of cancers. All of these problems can be prevented by promoting exercise, so it is important to evaluate models of health behaviors to achieve this goal. Among several models the Health Belief Model is one of the most studied models to promote health related behaviors. This study validates the first exercise scale based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) in Mexicans with the objective of studying and analyzing this model in Mexico.
  
  
  
  Items for the scale called the Exercise Health Belief Model Scale (EHBMS) were developed by a health research team, then the items were applied to a sample of 746 participants, male and female, from five cities in Mexico. The factor structure of the items was analyzed with an exploratory factor analysis and the internal reliability with Cronbach's alpha.
  
  
  
  The exploratory factor analysis reported the expected factor structure based in the HBM. The KMO index (0.92) and the Barlett's sphericity test (p < 0.01) indicated an adequate and normally distributed sample. Items had adequate factor loadings, ranging from 0.31 to 0.92, and the internal consistencies of the factors were also acceptable, with alpha values ranging from 0.67 to 0.91.
  
  
  
  The EHBMS is a validated scale that can be used to measure exercise based on the HBM in Mexican populations.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Program, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Av. Universidad y H. Colegio Militar s/n, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. oesparza@uacj.mx.|Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Administración, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Av. Universidad y H. Colegio Militar s/n, Zona Chamizal, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. oesparza@uacj.mx.
authors.forename: Oscar Armando Esparza-Del
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Villar
authors.affiliation: Psychology Program, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Av. Universidad y H. Colegio Militar s/n, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
authors.forename: Priscila
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montañez-Alvarado
authors.affiliation: Psychology Program, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Av. Universidad y H. Colegio Militar s/n, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
authors.forename: Marisela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-Vega
authors.affiliation: Psychology Program, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Av. Universidad y H. Colegio Militar s/n, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
authors.forename: Irene Concepción
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Carrillo-Saucedo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Carretera Toluca - Naucalpan km. 1.5 s/n, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico.
authors.forename: Gloria Margarita
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Gurrola-Peña
authors.affiliation: Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Sierra Mojada N° 950. Col. Independencia, C.P. 44350, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Norma Alicia
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ruvalcaba-Romero
authors.affiliation: Unidad Académica de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Av. Preparatoria 301, Hidraulica, 98060, Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico.
authors.forename: María Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: García-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Colima, Av. Universidad No. 333, Las Víboras, CP 28040, Colima, Colima, Mexico.
authors.forename: Sergio Gabriel
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Ochoa-Alcaraz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Exploratory factor analysis; Health models; Obesity; Overweight; Physical activity