Abstract

Objectives: Compensatory Health Beliefs (CHBs) are defined as beliefs that negative
consequences of unhealthy behaviours can be compensated for by engaging in healthy
behaviours. These beliefs are thus likely to prevent health behaviour change in individuals.
Until now, there has been relatively little research on CHBs. Thus, the aim of the present study
was to assess reliability and validity of the German version of the CHB scale. Methods: The
German CHB scale was assessed in five different samples of adolescents and young adults.
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the structure of
the CHBs. Regression analyses were used to test for construct validity. Results: The factor
analysis for all five samples showed that the structure of the German CHB scale was not
entirely identical with the original CHB scale. Despite the low reliabilities of the subscales,
the overall scale of the CHBs, however, indicated a good reliability and validity.

Conclusions: These five studies provide first evidence for the usefulness of the German CHB
scale. Instead of focussing on subscales of the general CHB scale, it might be more worthwhile
to develop behaviour-specific CHB scales.
Abstracts 313