Validation of a health promotion leadership self-efficacy measure in Jewish and Palestinian women

Abstract Background Health promotion (HP) leadership training is necessary to optimize health promotion in all sectors of society, and as in all interventions, there is a need for a measure to assess the effectiveness of leadership training and leadership self-efficacy. The current study aims to validate a 13-item self-report scale for use in health promotion leadership programs. The scale, in Hebrew and Arabic versions, assesses health-promotion leadership skills and self-efficacy (HPLSES). Methods Data for the Hebrew scale were collected as part of a leadership training program for women in Jerusalem and Beer Sheva workplaces (n = 38). The Arabic scale was administered as part of a healthy lifestyle and leadership training program conducted in community centers in East Jerusalem (n = 155). Data for both scales were collected at baseline and 6 months post-intervention. Validation of scales included a panel of experts to assess content validity, Cronbach's alpha to assess internal validity, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess construct validity. A specific model was designed to test predictive validity for both communities. Results Content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. Preliminary correlation analysis between the instrument items showed high correlations for both time periods, which suggested difficulties in building distinct dimensions. Preliminary confirmatory models using exploratory/confirmatory models for the13 items showed reasonable loadings (Loading>0.65). We obtained acceptable goodness-of-fit to the empirical data (Cronbach's alpha=0.90). Conclusions This scale demonstrated acceptable content, internal and construct validity for addressing leadership self-efficacy. It can be used in the evaluation of HP leadership training. Caution is advised in generalizing the results for the Jewish sample given the small sample size. Key messages This scale has been validated as a measure for assessing leadership self-efficacy. The scale can be used in evaluation of health promotion leadership trainings for the same population.