[Validity and reliability of a questionnaire to asses the social, corporal, and sexual behaviors among school adolescents].

OBJECTIVE

To validate a self-administered questionnaire about social and corporal sexual behaviors among adolescents, by school level and gender.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The data collection instrument was constructed according to DeVellis and consisted of 26 items. It was used in a prospective longitudinal study conducted in 1994 in Guadalajara, Mexico, among 1243 secondary and high school students. The construct validity of the instrument was established using exploratory factorial analysis, and its reliability using the Cronbach's alpha test.

RESULTS

Five factors were obtained in males and an equal number in women, using eigenvalues > 1 and by forcing the best solution. The explained variance was 59.3-70.6%; the factorial weight average was 0.63-0.75, and 13 different factors were selected. The Cronbach's alpha mean was 0.87-0.93 and 16 factors had Cronbach's alpha over 0.70.

CONCLUSIONS

The instrument has an acceptable validity and reliability for studying the sexual, social, and corporal behaviors in adolescents similar populations.