Development and validation of the cognitive behavioral physical activity questionnaire

Purpose. Develop and demonstrate preliminary validation of a brief questionnaire aimed at assessing social cognitive determinants of physical activity (PA) in a college population. Design. Quantitative and observational. Setting. A midsized northeastern university. Subjects. Convenience sample of 827 male and female college students age 18 to 24 years. Measures. International Physical Activity Questionnaire and a PA stage-of-change algorithm. Analysis. A sequential process of survey development, including item generation and data reduction analyses by factor analysis, was followed with the goal of creating a parsimonious questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for confirmatory factor analysis and construct validation was confirmed against self-reported PA and stage of change. Validation analyses were replicated in a second, independent sample of 1032 college students. Results. Fifteen items reflecting PA self-regulation, outcome expectations, and personal barriers explained 65% of the questionnaire data and explained 28.6% and 39.5% of the variance in total PA and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA, respectively. Scale scores were distinguishable across the stages of change. Findings were similar when the Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Questionnaire (CBPAQ) was tested in a similar and independent sample of college students (40%; R2 moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA = .40; p , .001). Conclusion. The CBPAQ successfully explains and predicts PA behavior in a college population, warranting its incorporation into future studies aiming at understanding and improving on PA behavior in college students.