Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs Scale: Psychometric properties in Portuguese pregnant women

• Published in: Research in nursing & health Vol. 46; no. 5; pp. 538 - 545
• Main Authors: Nunes, Maria A., Almeida, Sofia, Cardoso, Alexandrina, Vieira, Margarida, Melnyk, Bernadette M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.10.2023
• Subjects: Beliefs; Child development; Clinical outcomes; Exploratory factor analysis; Health behavior; Health status; Lifestyles; Measures; Medical personnel; Mental health; Perinatal; Pregnancy; Prenatal care; Quantitative psychology; Social development; Women; Womens health; psychometric; pregnant women; healthy lifestyle belief; mental health; prenatal care
• ISSN: 0160-6891; 1098-240X; 1098-240X
• DOI: 10.1002/nur.22329

Healthy lifestyle during pregnancy influences the pregnant woman's and child's physical and mental health, impacting perinatal outcomes. Healthy lifestyle beliefs are predictors of lifestyle behaviors, requiring a valid and reliable instrument to assess them during prenatal care. The 16‐item Healthy Lifestyle Belief Scale (HLBS) measures a person's beliefs about their ability to live a healthy lifestyle. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the HLBS among pregnant women. A methodological study was developed in two phases: cross‐cultural adaptation and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version in a nonprobability sample of 192 Portuguese pregnant women. The exploratory factor analysis suggested three subscales, which explained 53.8% of the total variance. Cronbach's α was 0.83 for the overall scale and for the subscales ranged between 0.71 and 0.81. The HLBS is a reliable and valid instrument to assist health professionals in assessing the ability of Portuguese pregnant women to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Assessing healthy lifestyle beliefs potentially contributes to the development of health behavior interventions in pregnant women and consequently improves perinatal outcomes through evidence‐based practices.