Social support and peer norms scales for physical activity in adolescents.

OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate psychometric properties of a Social Support and Peer Norms Scale in 5th-7th grade urban girls.

METHODS:

Baseline data from 509 girls and test-retest data from another 94 girls in the Midwestern US were used.

RESULTS:

Cronbach's alpha was .83 for the Social Support Scale and .72 for the Peer Norms Scale, whereas test-re-test reliability was .78 for both scales. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a single factor structure for the Social Support Scale, and a 3-factor structure for the Peer Norms Scale. Social support was correlated with accelerometer-measured physical activity (r = .13, p = .006), and peer norms (r = .50, p < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS:

Both scales have adequate psychometric properties.