The Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale-translation and validation for the Portuguese language: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives: To translate and validate the Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale instrument into the Portuguese language.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting participants: The Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale was translated from English to Portuguese and then back-translated to obtain a final version. The questionnaire was then applied face-to-face from January to March 2019 in a representative sample of the Portuguese population (n=301 people aged 20 years or more) to validate the Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale in a Portuguese population.

Outcomes: Principal component analysis and Cronbach's alpha.

Results: Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the internal structure of the scale. The results identified two components: problem-solving and decision-making with an explained variance of 65.9%. For internal consistency, three different techniques were used and applied to the two components. All of the items have very good internal consistency (problem-solving Cronbach's alpha=0.931 and decision-making Cronbach's alpha=0.951).

Conclusions: The validation of the Portuguese scale agreed well with the existing literature. The scale can be divided into two components: the problem-solving component and the decision-making component. The translated scale demonstrated good internal consistency and can therefore be used in future studies.

Keywords: Problem-Solving Decision-Making scale; translation; validation.