Perceived social support and self-efficacy beliefs for healthy eating and physical activity among Arabic-speaking university students: adaptation and implementation of health beliefs survey questionnaire

Abstract

Background Few assessment tools exist for investigating perceived social support and self-efficacy behaviors in Arabic-speaking populations. Moreover, literature on the levels of social support and self-efficacy for adopting healthy eating and engaging in regular physical activity among Arabic-speaking young adults is currently lacking. This study aimed to adapt the Health Beliefs Survey Questionnaire (HBSQ) for Arabic-speaking populations and assess perceived social support and self-efficacy for adopting healthy eating and increased physical activity among university students. Methods In the first stage of the study, forward and backward translation and pretesting of the social support and self-efficacy scales of the HBSQ were conducted. The adapted questionnaire was administered to female university students (n = 258), and a subsample of 195 participants retook the questionnaire after 1 month. Construct validity was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. The internal consistency of each subscale item was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and reproducibility was tested with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland-Altman plots. In the second stage, the adapted questionnaire was used to assess the perceived social support and self-efficacy levels in a different sample of Arabic-speaking female university students (n = 283). Results Based on the results from confirmatory factor analysis, 6 items were selected for the social support scale and 19 items for the self-efficacy scale. The adapted questionnaire showed moderate to high internal reliability (Cronbach alpha coefficient = 0.681 to 0.900). The ICCs of the various subscales ranged from 0.666 to 0.997, indicating moderate to excellent reproducibility of the culturally adapted questionnaire. This was confirmed by Bland-Altman analysis. Participants in the second stage of the study reported significantly higher (P < 0.001) perceived support from family compared to friends in reducing sugar intake and increasing fiber consumption. Conclusions The results of the psychometric testing indicate the shortened Arabic HBSQ is a reliable tool for assessing perceived social support from family and close friends as well as for evaluating self-efficacy for choosing healthy foods and increasing physical activity among female university students.

The Intensity Use of mHealth Apps and its Relation to Nutrition Knowledge, Healthy Eating Self-Efficacy, and Positive Body Image

“…The mean for the total healthy eating self-efficacy was 2.28, showing a low degree of healthy-eating selfefficacy among students; this indicates that they do not have the capacity and belief in their commitment to healthful eating, and they cannot regulate themselves and their thoughts about healthy eating in terms of the quality of excellent and nutritious food; this may be due to a lack of nutrition knowledge. This conclusion is consistent with [59] findings indicating undergraduates in the United Arab Emirates have low self-efficacy towards healthy eating.…”

“…In conclusion, healthy eating self-efficacy plays a significant role in people's health because it impacts the individual food choice and dietary intake, which are connected to an individual's health; nevertheless, a lack of recently completed research aiming to assess the degree of healthy eating self-efficacy among undergraduates using sophisticated measures rather than a perspective questionnaire, the one we found was of Habiba and, his team [59] who did a study among undergraduates has been discovered.…”

Depression and Perceived Social Support among Unemployed Youths in China: Investigating the Roles of Emotion-Regulation Difficulties and Self-Efficacy

“…For instance, an empirical study investigated a group of American cancer survivors and found that less self-efficacy was associated with more severe depressive symptoms [74], whereas another study reported that participation in training programs aimed at improving self-efficacy significantly decreased the depression scores of pregnant women in Iran [81]. In addition, some studies suggested that self-efficacy can also be affected by interpersonal processes, such as social interaction and social support [82][83][84][85]. For example, Siciliano argued that self-efficacy can be strengthened by relevant knowledge and beliefs accessed from the individual's social network [86].…”

Effects of personal and interpersonal factors on changes of food choices and physical activity among college students

“…As college students become more independent, some personal characteristics and interpersonal influences begin to serve important roles and have specific relevance to the formation of healthy behaviors, relative to that which they served in other life stages, including: (1) psychosocial characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy) being developed or established during emerging adulthood; (2) body shape-related belief due to the greater attention to body shape [ 10 ]; and (3) peer support because of spending more time with peers and less time with family [ 11 ]. According to the SCT, self-efficacy and health belief (e.g., body shape-related belief) contribute towards overcoming the barriers to adopt and maintain health behaviors [ 9 ], with higher levels being associated with higher intakes of fruit and vegetables [ 12 ], calcium and vitamin D [ 13 ], lower intakes of high-calorie food [ 14 ], and more engagement in PA [ 15 ]. Interpersonal factors, such as peer support, are also very important in shaping individual behaviors [ 16 ].…”