Compensatory Healthy Belief Scale: Psychometric Properties of a Cross-culturally Adapted Scale Use in China

The study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Chinese version Compensatory Healthy Belief (CHB) scale. The definition of CHB is that people can use healthy behaviours to compensate for the negative effects of unhealthy behaviours. For example, “I can eat this dessert now because I will do exercises later. The extra calorie intake can be consumed by physical exercises”. The activation of CHB is an excuse to engage in unhealthy behaviours, which will negatively affect behaviours. Based on the Canada original version CHB scale, which is translated to Chinese according to the cross-cultural adaptation guidelines, the study tested validity and reliability among 200 high school students from Changchun, China. The factor analysis results are not entirely identical with hypothesized four subscales 17 items structure. Only three subscales of 12 items have an acceptable factor loading. Subscale internal consistency has a good value, and all 12 items have high internal consistency. This result indicates that CHB scales in Chinese content are not entirely identical, but there is an underlying construct. The Pearson correlation of the first test and second retest is good. Thus, three-subscale questionnaire is recommended to use in China population.