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Development of a Self-Care Autonomy in Health Scale for Late Adolescents
Background: This paper describes the development of the Self-Care Autonomy in Health Scale for Late Adolescents (SAHSLA) for use with general samples. It addresses concerns regarding the nonclinical efficacy of self-care health scales for adolescents, particularly their ability to discriminate between lower levels of self-care.
Methods: A survey was constructed based on literature review and subsequently evaluated in two studies. Parents (N = 57, 53 parents of girls, 4 of boys, Mage = 15.96) participated in Study 1, which investigated the internal with Cronbach's alpha and coefficient omega (ω), and convergent validity with regard to adolescent age. In Study 2, the SAHSLA scores of adolescents (N = 339, 268 girls, 73 boys, Mage = 15.87) were examined using confirmatory factor and convergent validity analyses in relation to age, gender, smoking and alcohol consumption patterns, and self-compassion assessments.
Results: In the Study 1 the scale total and a child's age did not substantially correlate. Both, omega and alpha were moderate. Study 2 revealed two-factor model with physical and psychological components. There were minor yet statistically significant associations found between self-judgment and psychological SAHSLA Physical SAHSLA was not connected with age, over-identification, isolation, or self-judgment, but it was statistically strongly correlated with total self-compassion.
Conclusions: The scale and study findings can be applied to health monitoring and interventions in schools and adolescent campaigns aimed at alcohol- and tobacco-use cessation.