Reliability and Validity of a Chinese Version of the Students’ Attitudes toward Physical Education Scale and Its Related Factors

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Students’ Attitudes toward Physical Education Scale (SPEA), and to ascertain the associations between student attitudes toward physical education and gender, grade levels, school, and area. In 2013, a cross-sectional study was conducted in eight middle schools in Beijing, China. A sample of 1793 students was enrolled. Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were performed to evaluate the scale’s internal and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Linear mixed models were used to examine the associations of attitude scores with gender, grade, school, and area (urban and suburban). Our results showed high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90, ICC = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92 - 0.96) of the SPEA.