Development of an exercise self-efficacy questionnaire for older Mexican American women

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and culturally meaningful exercise self-efficacy questionnaire for older Mexican American women. Items were derived from a 5-item exercise self-efficacy instrument (Laffrey, 2000; Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992) and from focus groups with women in the target population. Content validity of the Spanish-language items was supported by three Mexican American professional women and by five Mexican American nurses. A factor analysis of the 11-item questionnaire revealed one major factor. Internal consistency was shown by an alpha reliability coefficient of .86. Item:corrected scale correlation coefficients ranged from .30 to .70. The mean exercise self-efficacy score was significantly higher for 38 regular exercisers than for 37 non-exercisers. The exercise self-efficacy questionnaire can be used in research with older Mexican American women and should be tested with men and with younger men and women to explore its usefulness with these populations.