Development and validation of the climate change health protection behaviors scale for adolescents: a methodological study

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and validate the Climate Change Health Protection Behaviors Scale for adolescents. A total of 1036 adolescents were recruited from middle and high schools. The development of the assessment scale was carried out in three steps: item generation, content validity evaluation, and psychometric evaluation. Psychometric testing was conducted to determine the relationship between the resulting factors and the Healthy Lifestyle Belief Scale and Climate Change Awareness Scale. A 28-item scale was developed, consisting of four factors that account for 65.0% of the variance. The Cronbach's alpha value was 0.874. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between the Climate Change Health Protection Behaviors Scale and both the Climate Change Awareness Scale and the Healthy Lifestyle Belief Scale for adolescents. These results suggest that the Climate Change Health Protection Behaviors Scale is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating health protection behaviors related to climate change in adolescents.