Measuring Self-Efficacy in the Context of Pediatric Diabetes Management: Psychometric Properties of the Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Scale

Objective The Self-Efficacy for Diabetes Scale (SED) is a widely used measure of diabetes-specific self-efficacy with three subscales: diabetes-specific self-efficacy (SED-D), medical self-efficacy (SED-M), and general self-efficacy (SED-G). The present study examined the factor structure and construct validity of the SED in 116 youth, aged 10-16 years (13.60 +/- 1.87), with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the SED. Correlational and regression analyses examined relations between subscales and select outcomes. Results CFA of the original three-factor structure provided a poor fit to the data. Factor models using rescaled items were tested. Results provided preliminary evidence for the SED-D as an independent one-factor model, and for a reduced one-factor model. Significant associations were found between the SED subscales, responsibility for diabetes management, and glycated hemoglobin. Conclusions Results provide limited support for the SED-D as a reliable and valid measure of diabetes-specific self-efficacy.