Psychometric Properties of the Physical Educators' Self-Efficacy Toward Including Students With Disabilities-Autism Among Chinese Preservice Physical Education Teachers.

Abstract

Teachers' self-efficacy is a critical predictor for successful inclusive physical education. However, little is known about preservice physical educators' self-efficacy toward teaching students with autism spectrum disorders in China. A sound instrument is necessary to measure their self-efficacy level. This validation study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Physical Educators' Self-Efficacy Toward Including Students with Disabilities-Autism. A multisection survey form was administered to preservice physical educators in Mainland China (n = 205) and Hong Kong (n = 227). The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the one-factor model of the scale in the total sample and each of the two samples. Invariance tests across the two samples supported configural and metric invariance but not scalar invariance. The scale scores showed good internal reliability and were correlated with theoretically relevant constructs (i.e., burnout and life satisfaction) in the total sample and subsamples. These findings generally support the utility of the scale for use among Chinese preservice physical educators.