General self-efficacy scale validation in Chile

Background: Self efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capability to produce given achievements and the individual's perception of his or her ability to perform an action. Aim: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the General Self-efficacy Scale in Chilean population. Material and Methods: The study was carried out in 360 subjects, both sexes, 15-65 years of age, from Concepcion, Chile, who answered Self-efficacy Self-esteem and Health Status Perception instruments. Reliability was verified by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and validity by expert revision, univariate statistics, correlations among items, item-scale correlations, and correlations with Self-esteem and Perception of Health Status constructs. Results: The structure of the scale is uni-dimensional, homogenous and positively related with the constructs examined. Conclusions: The General Self-efficacy Scale is a reliable and valid measure of the perception of self-efficacy in the Chilean population. (Rev Med Chile 2010; 138: 551-557).