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The Self-Efficacy Scale for adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (SESAMeD): A scale construction and validation
The purpose of this 2018 study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument that could measure the extent to which people are confident in their ability to adhere to the Mediterranean diet. This instrument was named the Self-Efficacy Scale for Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (SESAMeD). The study was carried out in two stages, with stage 1 set to assist with reducing and refining the list by administering the pilot questionnaires to 170 students. Stage 2 involved evaluating the reliability and validity of the scale by testing on 348 patients who had previously suffered from a cardiovascular disease. Following the evaluation, the items of the scale could be reduced to 22. The factor structure of SESAMeD was tested across exploratory factorial analysis and confirmatory factorial analysis, with both analyses confirming a robust adjustment for the bi-factorial structure. The two factors identified were: self-efficacy for the avoidance of determined unhealthy foods not recommended in the Mediterranean diet; and self-efficacy for the consumption of determined healthy foods recommended in this diet. The pattern of relations between the SESAMeD and the SESAMeD subscales and other different psychological variables (outcome expectancies, motivation, affective balance, and life satisfaction) supported the validity of the bi-factorial structure and provided strong evidence of construct validity. Cuadrado et al. (2018) have designed an instrument that can help healthcare professionals and researchers to assess patients’ confidence in managing to adhere to the Mediterranean diet, a psychological variable that may in fact affect adherence itself to this healthy eating habit. [NPID: personality, Mediterranean diet, cardiovascular disease, self-efficacy, motivation, life satisfaction]
Year: 2018
