Self-efficacy and Health: The SEH Scale.

OBJECTIVES

Our objective was to design an instrument to measure coping self-efficacy as manifested by patients experiencing health problems.

METHODS

A total of 2784 individuals were interviewed while attending primary healthcare centers in the Autonomous Community of Galicia in Northwest Spain. Of these persons, 54% were women and 46% were men, with a minimum age of 18 years, and a mean age of 37.4 years. A questionnaire was administered comprised of sociodemographic variables, items related to the use of healthcare resources, and a coping self-efficacy scale of health problems (SEH), based on the self-efficacy test by Baessler and Schwarzer. Statistical analysis determined reliability, and whether the SEH scale was efficacious in detecting changes in the use of specific health resources. A parametric ANOVA was performed on 4 groups based on the quartiles of self-efficacy in health, as measured by the SEH scale.

RESULTS

The reliability and validity of the 10-item coping self-efficacy scale of health problems (SEH) was confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS

Its compliance with relevant psychometric requirements means the SHE scale may have more general utility.