Mexican validation of the instrument for continuous measure of the stages of change in the exercise context (URICA-E2)

Abstract

Due to the high rates of sedentary lifestyle that the Mexican population presents and the differences by gender reported in other studies in the stages of change; it is necessary to have a reliable and valid instrument to measure the stages of change towards physical exercise in the Mexican population regardless of gender. The purpose of this study was to confirm the factorial structure and to analyze the psychometric properties and factorial invariance across the URICA-E2 gender groups in the Mexican adult population. The sample consisted in 871 adults (49.19% men, 50.81% women, M_age = 33.26; SD = 13.99; range = 18 - 76 years) inhabitants of the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Nuevo León and Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. A version of the URICA-E2 translated into Spanish was used, adapted to the Mexican context and culture. Internal consistency, composite reliability, and average variance extracted were evaluated. Similarly, the convergent and discriminant validity of the instrument was analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a six-factor structure and multigroup analyzes supported the strict factor invariance of the Mexican version of URICA-E2 across gender groups. The results showed an acceptable internal consistency and provided evidence of the convergent and discriminant validity of the Mexican version of the URICA-E2. The Mexican version of the URICA-E2 is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in future studies.