Translation, Validity, and Reliability of the Malay Version of the Adolescent Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire

Abstract

The prevalence of non-communicable diseases has increased worldwide, and their complications pose a significant threat to Malaysia, creating the leading causes of morbidity. Due to that, many instruments were developed to assess a healthy lifestyle in general; however, the measurement issue remains important for scholars, especially when it involves different samples. Furthermore, the quality of instruments is influenced by their validity and reliability. This study aims to translate, adapt, and establish validity evidence and reliability for the Malay version of the Adolescents’ Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The validity evidence was tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability using Cronbach’s alpha. There are 11 components: healthy diet, physical activity, substance abuse, health responsibility, sleep quality, interpersonal relationships, social health, mental health, accident prevention, environmental health, and suicidal tendencies, with 116 items created for the instrument. From EFA, ten components with 64 items of the healthy lifestyle questionnaire among adolescents explained 55.60% of the variance in the pattern of relationships among the items. All ten components had high reliability (α =. 733 — α = .906). Hence, the items can be used for data collection to understand the practices of a healthy lifestyle for future research.