VALIDATION OF THE COSTA RICAN APPRAISAL OF SELFCARE AGENCY SCALE

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the Appraisal of Self-Care Agency Scale among university students majoring in health-related fields. Material and Method: An instrumental design was employed using a convenience sample of health-sciences students from two Costa Rican universities. Data was collected via an online survey in October 2023, sent to all eligible students (response rate: 30.16%; final sample: n= 361; mean age= 23.61 ± 5.30 years). Participants under 18 were excluded. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to assess the fit of different models. Results: After respecification, the model showed good fit to a three-factor structure (?2= 240, df= 72, p < .001; CFI= .90, TLI= .88, RMSEA= .08, SRMR= .06).
Conclusions: The respecified three-factor model proved to be a better solution than the traditional unifactorial model for health- related students. The alignment between the designations used for the three factors and the original theoretical model of the instrument was also discussed.