Development and validation of the pro‐environmental behaviour scale for women's health

AIM: This study was aimed to develop and test the Pro-environmental Behavior Scale for Women's Health. BACKGROUND: Women adopt sustainable behaviours and alter their life styles to protect the environment and their health from environmental pollution. The conceptual framework of pro-environmental behaviours was based on Rogers' protection motivation theory and Weinstein's precaution adoption process model. DESIGN: The cross-sectional design was used for instrument development. METHOD: The instrument development process consisted of a literature review, personal depth interviews and focus group interviews. The sample comprised 356 adult women recruited in April-May 2012 in South Korea using quota sampling. For construct validity, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure, after which convergent and discriminant validity and known-group comparisons were tested. RESULTS: Principal component analysis yielded 17 items with four factors, including 'women's health protection,' 'chemical exposure prevention,' 'alternative consumption,' and 'community-oriented behaviour'. The Cronbach's α was 0·81. Convergent and discriminant validity were supported by performing correlations with other environmental-health and health-behaviour measures. CONCLUSION: Nursing professionals can reliably use the instrument to assess women's behaviours, which protect their health and the environment.