TITLE:
Psychometric Validation of Exercise Motivation for Health Scale (EMHS)
AUTHORS:
Chenghong Hu, Ami Kojima, Urusla Athenstaedt, Yoshiko Kato
KEYWORDS:
Motivation, Exercise, Health, Scale
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.5 No.10,
October
31,
2017
ABSTRACT:
Objective: The main purpose of this study was to create a Japanese version of
the exercise motivation for health scale (EMHS) and examine its psychometric
validation. Methods: In study 1, participants were 532 Japanese residents (M =
42.82 ± 13.29, 275 males 257 females). A questionnaire (29 items) modified
from the motivation for regulation of eating behavior scale (REBS) was completed.
In study 2, participants were 679 (M = 42.82 ± 13.29, 296 males and
383 females aged between 20 - 85) Japanese residents. Well-being, social support,
and stage of change in transtheoretical model (TTM) were used as criterion
to test the validity of EMHS. Results: Study 1 reported that the principal
component analysis (PCA) of the EMHS revealed good construct validity. The
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the 6 subscales ranged from 0.77 to 0.89. Study
2 indicated convergent and discriminant validity on relationship between
well-being and stage of change. A relatively high compatibility (GFI = 0.91,
AGFI = 0.87, CFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.08) was observed. Two significant differences
between gender groups were found in the sample, a higher autonomous
regulation on women, and a higher amotivation on men. Conclusion:
The results suggested that the Japanese version of EMHS is reliable and valid,
and can be used as a tool for measuring the motivation to exercise for health.