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Question: Hello, I am looking for a research self-efficacy measure/questionnaire that has been validated for community partners/community researchers. I am working on a project to increase confidence in research knowledge for community partners participating in CABs. I am only finding research self-efficacy measures that have been designed for college and graduate students which is not the population I am collaborating with. Any suggestions/leads would be greatly appreciated!

Answer:

Dear Ida

I agree with you that most Self Efficacy Scales are designed (and validated) for students. On the CTB website, you can find an example (Toolkit n. 12, Evaluating the Initiative, Example n. 3, Depression Self-Management for Rural Women with Disabilities) which used the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, whose items have been “modeled after the types of items used by Lorig et al. (1996)” and constructed to assess behaviors of participants. Lorig is an author who explores particularly health issues [Lorig, K., Chastain, R. L., Ung, E., Shoor, S., & Holman, H. R. (1989). Development and evaluation of a scale to measure perceived self‐efficacy in people with arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism: Official Journal of the American College of Rheumatology, 32(1), 37-44.); Ritter, P. L., Sheth, K., Stewart, A. L., Gallagher-Thompson, D., & Lorig, K. (2022). Development and evaluation of the eight-item Caregiver Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES-8). The Gerontologist, 62(3), 140-149].
You may think about a way of proceeding like the Example n. 3, so “modeling” items to assess aspects related to your research and intervention design.
Hoping to have been helpful enough…. and many thanks for asking Community Tool Box!

Question Date: Thu, 02/13/2025