Self-efficacy, a central construct of the Bandura social cognitive theory, formed the background for developing a measure of adolescent health expectations, the School Health Efficacy Questionnaire. The scale taps perceived self-efficacy in both physical and mental health. It showed strong factorial validity, although the factor structure is somewhat different for males and females. Subscales derived from the factor analyses gave high reliabilities. A series of MANOVAs and multiple regressions produced results predicted from self-efficacy theory, and supported the instrument's construct validity. Because low efficacy expectations may lead to self-harmful behaviors, such as poor personal relationships or substance abuse, health educators should consider ways to enhance adolescent appraisals of their capabilities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bandura, A.
(1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
2.
Bandura, A.
(1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3.
Bandura, A.
(1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175-1184.
4.
Barling, J.
, & Abel, M. (1983). Self-efficacy beliefs and tennis performance. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 7, 265-272.
5.
Best, J. A.
(1989). Intervention perspectives on school health promotion. Health Education Quarterly, 16, 299-306.
6.
Block, J. H.
, Efthim, H. E., & Burns, R. B. (1989). Building effective mastery learning schools. New York: Longman.
7.
Boyd, G. M.
, & Glover, E. D. (1989). Smokeless tobacco use by youth in the U.S. Journal of School Health, 59, 189-194.
8.
Byrne, B. M.
, & Shavelson, R. J. (1987). Adolescent self-concept: Testing the assumption of equivalent structure across gender. American Educational Research Journal, 24, 365-385.
9.
Chipman, S. F.
(1988). Far too sexy a topic. Educational Researcher, 16, 46-49.
10.
Desmond, S. M.
, Price, J. H., Hallinan, C., & Smith, D. (1989). Black and white adolescents' perceptions of their weight. Journal of School Health, 59, 353-358.
11.
Elkind, D.
(1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1034.
12.
Farmer, H. S.
(1987). A multivariate model for explaining gender differences in career and achievement motivation. Educational Researcher, 15, 5-9.
13.
Froman, R D.
, & Owen, S. V. (1987, December). Nurses'and mothers'ratings of infant care self-efficacy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Connecticut Psychological Association, Hartford.
14.
Froman, R. D.
, & Owen, S. V. (1989). Infant care self-efficacy. Scholarly Inquiry in Nursing Practice, 3, 199-211.
15.
Glynn, T. J.
(1989). Essential elements of a school-based smoking prevention program. Journal of School Health, 59, 181-188.
16.
Grant, C. A.
, & Sleeter, C. E. (1986). Race, class, and gender in education research: An argument for integrative analysis. Review of Educational Research, 56, 195-211.
17.
Kerr, D. L.
(1989). HIV education within comprehensive school education: What does it mean?Journal of School Health, 59, 39-39.
18.
McIntyre, K. O.
, Lichtenstein, E., & Mermelstein, R. J. (1983). Self-efficacy and relapse in smoking cessation: Areplication and extension.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 632-633.
19.
Metropolitan Life Foundation
. (1988). An evaluation of comprehensive health educaton in American public schools. New York: Author.
20.
National Adolescent Student Health Survey
. (1988). Health Education, 19(4), 4-8.
21.
National Professional School Health Educational Organizations
. (1984). Comprehensive school health education. Journal of School Health, 54, 312-315.
22.
Neufeld, R.W.J.
, & Thomas, P. (1977). Effects of perceived efficacy of a prophylactic controlling mechanism on self-control under pain stimulation. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 9,224-232.
23.
O'Leary, A.
(1985). Self-efficacy and health. Behavioural Research and Therapy, 23, 437-451.
24.
Pigg, R. M.
(1989). The contribution of school health programs to the broader goals of public health: The American experience. Journal of School Health, 59, 25-30.
25.
Rosenstock, I. M.
, Strecher, V. J., & Becker, M. H. (1988). Social learning theory and the health belief model. Health Education Quarterly, 15, 175-183.
26.
Schunk, D. H.
(1989). Self-efficacy and cognitive skill learning. In R. Ames & C. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education (Vol. 3, pp. 13-44). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
27.
Schunk, D. H.
, & Lilly, M. W. (1984). Sex differences in self-efficacy and attributions: Influence of performance feedback. Journal of Early Adolescence, 4, 203-213.
28.
Stevens, J.
(1986). Applied multivariate statisticsfor thesocialsciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
Strecher, V. J.
, DeVellis, B., Becker, M. H., & Rosenstock, I. M. (1986). The role of self-efficacy in achieving health behavior change. Health Education Quarterly, 13, 73-91.
30.
Tabachnick, B. G.
, & Fidell, L. S. (1989). Using multivariate statistics (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
31.
Tappe, M. K.
, Duda, J. L., & Ehmwald, P. M. (1989). Perceived barriers to exercise among adolescents. Journal of School Health, 59, 153-155.
32.
Wheeler, V. A.
, & Ladd, G. W. (1982). Assessment of children's self-efficacy for social interaction with peers. Developmental Psychology, 18, 795-805.
