Reliability and Convergent Validity of the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey Physical Activity Items

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

Study examining reliability and convergent validity of National College Health Risk Behavior Survey questions for vigorous physical activity (VPA), moderate physical activity (MPA), flexibility (FLEX), and muscular strength/endurance (MSE). Twenty college students completed four items twice in one day, then wore an accelerometer and pedometer and maintained activity logs across the following 7 days. Afterward, participants completed the NCHRBS physical activity items again. Intraclass correlations were .94–.99, with strong associations between item responses and log and device-derived measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

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Abstract

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NCHRBS Physical Activity Items

Reliability and Convergent Validity of the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey Physical Activity Items Mary K. Dinger ABSTRACT This study examined the reliability and validity of the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS) vigorous physical activity (VPA), moderate physical activity (MPA), flexibility (FLEX), and muscular strength and/or endurance (MSE) questions. Twenty college students completed the four items twice during the same day. During the next 7 days they wore an accelerometer and a pedometer during all waking hours. They also recorded their daily activity in a log. At the end of the week, subjects completed the NCHRBS physical activity items again. The intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from .94–.99 for the four items. The vigorous item was highly correlated with log VPA (r=.82) and number of days with ≥20 minutes of VPA from the accelerometer (r=.60). The flexibility item was moderately correlated (r=.57) and the muscular strength and/or endurance item was highly correlated (r=.89) with corresponding log activities. The moderate item was highly correlated with log MPA (r=.66) and number of days with ≥30 minutes of MPA from the accelerometer (r=.61). In conclusion, the NCHRBS physical activity items have excellent test-retest reliability and validity indices similar to other self-report physical activity questions. When young adults attend college, they gain increased control over their lifestylesand develop a foundation of behaviors that may last throughout their lives. Researchers have determined that physical inactivity increases with age and the most rapid increase occurs in late adolescence and early adulthood (Stephens, Jacobs, & White, 1985). Many young adults on college campuses are not meeting current physical activity recommendations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997; Dinger, 1999; Dinger & Waigandt, 1997), and a substantial proportion are leading a sedentary lifestyle (Pinto & Marcus, 1995) . Because physical inactivity is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and is also associated with increasing risk for adultonset diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, osteoporosis, anxiety, and depression (Pateet al., 1995), it is important that we have valid and reliable physical activity assessment tools that are specific to the college student population. In many settings, surveys are the most appropriate measure of physical activity because they are simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive, and generally do not require much effort on the part of the respondent (Ainsworth, 2000) . A widely used survey with the college student population is the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey (NCHRBS) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997) . The NCHRBS is the college student version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Kolbe, Kann, & Collins, 1993) . The NCHRBS was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assess health-risk behaviors that are often established during youth and extend into adulthood. Six behavior categories are assessed by the Mary K. Dinger, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, Huston Huffman Center 117, Norman, OK 73019- 6081; [E-mail: mkdinger@ou.edu](E-mail: mkdinger@ou.edu) This study was supported by a Junior Faculty Research Grant from the University of Oklahoma. Mary K. Dinger survey: physical inactivity, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, high-risk sexual activity, dietary consumption, and unintentional and intentional injuries (Kolbe et al., 1993) . The physical activity questions from the NCHRBShave been used widely to describe physical activity among college students (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997; Dinger, 1999; Dinger & Waigandt, 1997), but the reliability and validity of these questions have not been determined (Brener, Collins, Kann, Warren,& Williams, 1995) . The purpose of this study was t

FAQs

What is the purpose of this study?

To examine the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the NCHRBS physical activity items for VPA, MPA, FLEX, and MSE questions in college students.

How was participant physical activity measured during the study?

Participants completed the NCHRBS items twice and wore an accelerometer and pedometer during all waking hours for 7 days, while also recording daily activity in a log.

What did the results show about the NCHRBS physical activity questions?

The NCHRBS items demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations .94–.99) and showed strong to moderate correlations with log and device-derived measures, supporting validity.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda