Simplified assessment of health behaviour determinants – self efficacy, subjective norm, and decisional balance

Simplified assessment of health behaviour determinants – self efficacy, subjective norm, and decisional balance | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Simplified assessment of health behaviour determinants – self efficacy, subjective norm, and decisional balance Renate Deinzer, Jutta Margraf-Stiksrud, Zdenka Eidenhardt This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objectives Assessment of the health behaviour determinants decisional balance (DB), self-efficacy (SE), and subjective norm (SN) usually relies on multi-item questionnaires (MIQs). These can be burdensome in large-scale or repeated-measure designs or simultaneous assessment of different health behaviours. This study developed and tested single-item questionnaires (SIQs) for DE, SE, and SN as an alternative. Design SIQs for DB, SE and SN were developed based on literature introducing the respective constructs into health behaviour research, on current MIQs and on responses received during a Delphi process regarding their content validity. Two studies (N=685 and N=206) compared the SIQs to MIQs. Assessments referred to regular exercise and three aspects of oral hygiene (OH) behaviour (i.e. regularity, training of skills and skilful performance). Study 3 (N=177) examined the stability of SIQs and their suitability for simultaneously assessing different but interrelated OH behaviours. Results Item characteristics of SIQs were in the range of MIQs. Convergence with MIQs ranged from r tc =.284- r tc =.736 depending on the determinant (lowest: DB) and the health behaviour. Re-test correlations ranged from r tt =.475-r tt =.763. ANOVAS revealed that individuals responded differently to different OH behaviours. Discussion This research offers initial evidence supporting the validity of the SIQs and their effectiveness in assessing multiple health behaviour determinants concurrently. The moderate re-test correlations fit the theoretical assumptions. The low convergences of the DB-SIQs may be explained by the features of the DB-MIQs, which assess pros and cons separately rather than the subjective weighing of arguments. Future research should further examine the SIQs’ validity. Psychology Health Behaviour Surveys and questionnaires Theory of planned behavior Transtheoretical model Health belief model Self efficacy Subjective norm Decisional balance Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files 20250818AssessmentHBDAppendix1.pdf Appendix 1 - Design of the Questionnaries 20250819AssessmentHBDAppendix2.pdf Appendix 2 - Tables A1-A9 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7415161","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502980956,"identity":"21aa222e-a570-49b7-b536-d29d55b5368c","order_by":0,"name":"Renate Deinzer","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2867-4029","institution":"Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Renate","middleName":"","lastName":"Deinzer","suffix":""},{"id":502980957,"identity":"0f0f517b-ddfd-425a-80ff-70747c55e48b","order_by":1,"name":"Jutta Margraf-Stiksrud","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Philipps-University Marburg, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jutta","middleName":"","lastName":"Margraf-Stiksrud","suffix":""},{"id":502980958,"identity":"b18fcb7c-4800-4e30-9e49-f10513c69a41","order_by":2,"name":"Zdenka Eidenhardt","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zdenka","middleName":"","lastName":"Eidenhardt","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-20 08:23:58","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89552210,"identity":"4351da89-9051-426f-8dd2-03c666999973","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-21 08:38:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":463651,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20250819AssessmentHBDpreprintmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7415161/v1_covered_5de367eb-dce8-40e8-8af2-6f5720c42dc5.pdf"},{"id":89551624,"identity":"f609c571-c390-42cc-b9fe-3dec90a5d057","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-21 08:30:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1365368,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAppendix 1 - Design of the Questionnaries\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"20250818AssessmentHBDAppendix1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7415161/v1/56ba148412442af02bc9f5c0.pdf"},{"id":89551625,"identity":"595bbae6-b4e9-44ef-b9c1-f9b7deb381da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-21 08:30:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":162443,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAppendix 2 - Tables A1-A9\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"20250819AssessmentHBDAppendix2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7415161/v1/bbcd013b45d30f58361983f2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSimplified assessment of health behaviour determinants – self efficacy, subjective norm, and decisional balance\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Health Behaviour, Surveys and questionnaires, Theory of planned behavior, Transtheoretical model, Health belief model, Self efficacy, Subjective norm, Decisional balance","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjectives\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAssessment of the health behaviour determinants decisional balance (DB), self-efficacy (SE), and subjective norm (SN) usually relies on multi-item questionnaires (MIQs). These can be burdensome in large-scale or repeated-measure designs or simultaneous assessment of different health behaviours. This study developed and tested single-item questionnaires (SIQs) for DE, SE, and SN as an alternative.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDesign\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSIQs for DB, SE and SN were developed based on literature introducing the respective constructs into health behaviour research, on current MIQs and on responses received during a Delphi process regarding their content validity. Two studies (N=685 and N=206) compared the SIQs to MIQs. Assessments referred to regular exercise and three aspects of oral hygiene (OH) behaviour (i.e. regularity, training of skills and skilful performance). Study 3 (N=177) examined the stability of SIQs and their suitability for simultaneously assessing different but interrelated OH behaviours.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eItem characteristics of SIQs were in the range of MIQs. Convergence with MIQs ranged from r\u003csub\u003etc\u003c/sub\u003e=.284- r\u003csub\u003etc\u003c/sub\u003e=.736 depending on the determinant (lowest: DB) and the health behaviour. Re-test correlations ranged from r\u003csub\u003ett\u003c/sub\u003e=.475-r\u003csub\u003ett\u003c/sub\u003e=.763. ANOVAS revealed that individuals responded differently to different OH behaviours.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDiscussion\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research offers initial evidence supporting the validity of the SIQs and their effectiveness in assessing multiple health behaviour determinants concurrently. 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Future research should further examine the SIQs’ validity.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Simplified assessment of health behaviour determinants – self efficacy, subjective norm, and decisional balance","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-21 08:30:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7415161/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a0871df7-67b0-493e-bfa7-57e9b8aaad30","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 21st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":53493954,"name":"Psychology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-21T08:30:37+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-21 08:30:37","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7415161","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7415161","identity":"rs-7415161","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}