Performance of the Reported and Intended Behavior Scale Among Colombian Adolescents

Stigma discrimination against people who meet the criteria for mental disorders is frequent in Colombian adolescents; however, there is no valid and reliable instrument for measurement. The study aimed to establish the Reported and Intended Behavior Scale psychometric performance among Colombian adolescents.

A validation study was carried out with 350 students aged between 10 and 17, 53.7% of whom were girls. The authors estimated frequencies for reported behaviors and measured internal consistency and confirmatory factor analysis for intended behaviors. The Reported and Intended Behavior Scale has 2 sub-scales-reported and intended behaviors, with 4 items each.

The reported behavior sub-scale ranged from 10.0% to 24.9%, whereas the intended behavior sub-scale presented a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.86-0.90) and a McDonald omega of 0.88. For the confirmatory factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin was 0.81, Bartlett chi-squared, was 771.1 (df = 6, P = .001), and Eigen value was 2.95 that explained 73.9% of the total variance. For the goodness-of-fit tests, chi-squared was 21.9 (df = 2, P = .001), root mean square error of approximation was 0.17 (90% CI: 0.11-0.24), Comparative Fit Index was 0.97, Tucker-Lewis Index was 0.92, and standardized root mean square residual was 0.03.

The Reported and Intended Behavior Scale can measure reported behaviors, and the intended behavior sub-scale shows high internal consistency. However, the dimensionality of the intended behavior sub-scale presents modest goodness-of-fit indexes. These findings need replications.