Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the weight efficacy lifestyle questionnaire short-form for adolescents

The prevalence of obesity in children has greatly increased, and many reasons account for the increase. Self-efficacy in controlling eating behaviour is known to be inversely related to obesity prevalence. Moreover, the level of self-efficacy can be increased. However, there is no scale adapted to the Turkish setting that can evaluate self-efficacy in controlling eating behaviour. This study aimed to adapt the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire Short-Form to the Turkish language. The study sample included 392 adolescents aged 14-18. Data were collected through a socio-demographic data collection form and the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire Short-Form. The mean and percentage calculations were used in the analysis of the socio-demographic data. The principal components analysis determined that the scale consisted of one dimension. The explained variance was determined as 49.1%, and the factor loadings were .57-.78. The confirmatory factor analysis yielded a root mean square error of approximation of .06 and fit indices greater than .96. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for overall scale was .84. The Cronbach's alpha values of both halves of the split-half method and the Spearman-Brown and Guttman's split-half coefficients were found to be greater than .70. The correlation of the items with the total score was positive and greater than .20. Thus, the Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire Short-Form had a high level of validity and reliability for the Turkish adolescent sample. This scale can be used to determine self-efficacy in controlling eating behaviour change according to the current status of adolescents.