Psychometric Properties of the Brazilian Version of the Adolescent Health Promotion Scale (AHPS)

Abstract This study aimed to translate into Portuguese, perform the cross-cultural adaptation and verify the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Health Promotion Scale (AHPS) for use in Brazilian adolescents. The original version was translated following international recommendations. The final version of the translated scale was administered to a sample of 1,949 adolescents of both genders aged 12-18 years. An exploratory factor analysis and then a confirmatory factor analysis were completed to identify the baseline psychometric properties. After minor changes identified in the translation process, the committee of experts considered that the Portuguese version of the AHPS showed semantic, idiomatic, cultural and conceptual equivalence. The factor analysis confirmed the structure of six subscales originally proposed, by statistical indicators equivalent to χ2/df=1.83, CFI=0.948, GFI=0.969, AGFI=0.956 and RMSR=0.052. Factor validity and reliability were confirmed by suitable factor loadings and desirable realms of composite reliability (>0.7) average variance extracted (>0.5). In conclusion, translation, cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the AHPS were satisfactory, thus enabling its application in future Brazilian studies.