Perceived bafflers to active commuting to school: reliability and validity of a scale

Objective: To examine the reliability and validity of a scale to measure perceived barriers to active commuting to school among Spanish young people. Method: The validity of the scale was assessed in a sample of 465 adolescents (14-18 years) using a confirmatory factor analysis and studying its association with self-reported active commuting to school. The reliability of the instrument was evaluated in a sub-sample that completed the scale twice separated by a one-week interval. Results: The results showed that the barriers scale had satisfactory fit indices, and two factors were determined. The first included environment- and safety-related items (alpha= 0.72), while the other concerned planning and psychosocial items (alpha = 0.64). Active commuting to school showed significant correlations with the total score of the barriers scale (rho = -0.27; p < 0.001), with the environmental/safety barriers (rho = -0.22; p < 0.001), as well as with the planning/psychosocial barriers (rho = -0.29; p < 0.001). Test-retest ICCs for the barriers ranged from 0.68 to 0.77. Conclusion: The developed scale has acceptable validity and good reliability to assess barriers to active commuting to school among Spanish young people. (C) 2016 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.