Performance of the Reported and Intended Behavior Scale among Colombian Adolescents

Objective: To establish the Reported and Intended Behavior Scale (RIBS) psychometric performance, a mental disorder-related stigma measurement, among Colombian adolescents. Methods: A validation study was carried out with 350 students aged between 10 and 17, 53.7% of whom were girls. The RIBS has two sub-scales -reported behaviors and intended behaviors, with four items each. Frequencies were estimated for reported behaviors, whereas internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were measured for intended behaviors. Results: The reported behavior sub-scale ranged from 10.0 to 24.9%, whereas the intended behavior sub-scale presented a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88 (CI95% 0.86-0.90) and a McDonald's omega of 0.88. For the CFA, KMO was 0.81; Bartlett chi squared, 771.1 (df=6, p=0.01); and Eigen value, 2.95 that explained 73.9% of the total variance. For the goodness-of-fit tests, chi squared was 21.9 (df=2, p=.001); RMSEA, 0.17 (CI90% 0.11-0.24); CFI, 0.97; TLI, 0.92; and SMSR, 0.03. Conclusions: The RIBS can measure reported behaviors, and the intended behavior sub-scale shows high internal consistency. However, the dimensionality of the intended behavior sub-scale presents modest goodness-of-fit indexes. These findings need further replications.