Scale Development for Perceived School Climate for Girls’ Physical Activity

Authors

Amanda Birnbaum, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Kelly R. Evenson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Robert W. Motl, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rod K. Dishman, University of Georgia
Carolyn C. Voorhees, University of Maryland at Baltimore
James F. Sallis, San Diego State University
John P. Elder, San Diego State University
Marsha Dowda, University of South Carolina - Columbia

Document Type

Preprint

Publication Date

Summer 5-2005

Journal / Book Title

American Journal of Health Behavior

Abstract

Objectives: To test an original scale assessing perceived school climate for girls' physical activity in middle school girls. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: CFA retained 5 of 14 original items. A model with 2 correlated factors, perceptions about teachers' and boys' behaviors, respectively, fit the data well in both sixth and eighth-graders. SEM detected a positive, significant direct association of the teacher factor, but not the boy factor, with girls' self-reported physical activity. Conclusions: School climate for girls' physical activity is a measurable construct, and preliminary evidence suggests a relationship with physical activity.

Comments

Published in final edited form as: Am J Health Behav. 2005 ; 29(3): 250–257.

DOI

10.5993/AJHB.29.3.6

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Birnbaum, Amanda; Evenson, Kelly R.; Motl, Robert W.; Dishman, Rod K.; Voorhees, Carolyn C.; Sallis, James F.; Elder, John P.; and Dowda, Marsha, "Scale Development for Perceived School Climate for Girls’ Physical Activity" (2005). Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works. 182.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/public-health-facpubs/182