Validation of the health belief model scale for generalized anxiety in Mexican adult of general population

Abstract

According to the literature review, there are theoretical models that explain the presence of anxiety in people. These explanations agree that beliefs regarding control and the perception of vulnerability to worry seem to play an important role in the onset and maintenance of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Perceiving oneself capable of modifying these concerns facilitates change and taking action in the face of worrying situations in everyday life. The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been one of the most widely used conceptual frameworks to explain the change and maintenance of behaviors related to different health situations and to develop scales that allow identifying beliefs related to the problem in question, however , there are no scales based on this model for generalized anxiety, so the purpose of this research was the construction and validation of a scale with these characteristics. The construction of the items was carried out based on the dimensions that make up the HBM and subsequently validation by judges was carried out. Scales of anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, and self-efficacy were applied to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. Finally, an Exploratory Factor Analysis was carried out, from which 24 Likert-type scale items were obtained that were grouped into 5 dimensions, explaining 58.6% of the total variance and with a total Cronbach's alpha of .803.