Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting

Introduction Health literacy research has focused predominantly on the adult population, and much less is understood about this concept from an adolescent perspective. The tools currently available to measure adolescent health literacy have been adapted from adult versions. This limits their applica...

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Main Authors: Sarahjane Belton, Johann Issartel, Richard H Osborne, Ailbhe Spillane, Clare McDermott, Shandell Elmer, Celine Murrin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-11-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e039920.full
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author Sarahjane Belton
Johann Issartel
Richard H Osborne
Ailbhe Spillane
Clare McDermott
Shandell Elmer
Celine Murrin
author_facet Sarahjane Belton
Johann Issartel
Richard H Osborne
Ailbhe Spillane
Clare McDermott
Shandell Elmer
Celine Murrin
author_sort Sarahjane Belton
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Health literacy research has focused predominantly on the adult population, and much less is understood about this concept from an adolescent perspective. The tools currently available to measure adolescent health literacy have been adapted from adult versions. This limits their applicability to young people because of the developmental characteristics that impact on adolescents’ behaviour, including impulse control and judgement skills. This protocol describes the intended development and validity testing of a questionnaire to measure health literacy in adolescents.Methods and analysis This protocol describes this mixed methods study that has three phases: the first phase will involve grounded research with adolescents using qualitative group interviews, co-design and concept mapping workshops to understand what health and healthy behaviours mean to adolescents and to explore their health literacy needs and the potential domains for the questionnaire. The draft health literacy domains identified will be presented to the youth advisory panel, and the questionnaire will be altered based on their feedback. Cognitive pretesting of the questionnaire items will also be conducted. Phase 2 will involve piloting the questionnaire to a two-stage random sample of young people in five urban and rural schools in Ireland. Test–retest reliability will be conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis will also be conducted to analyse the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Phase 3 will involve the questionnaire being rolled out to a nationally representative sample of adolescents (n=6052) in Ireland to assess their levels of health literacy.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval to conduct this study has been granted from the University College Dublin Human Research Ethics Committee – Sciences (LS-20–08). Informed assent from adolescents and informed consent from parents/guardians will be sought. The findings of this research will be disseminated at national and international conferences, as well as through publication in peer-reviewed journals.
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spelling doaj-art-3f0582d191b2456989cca66c6e775eb72025-08-20T02:05:13ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-11-01101110.1136/bmjopen-2020-039920Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school settingSarahjane Belton0Johann Issartel1Richard H Osborne2Ailbhe Spillane3Clare McDermott4Shandell Elmer5Celine Murrin61 School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland1 School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, IrelandFaculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaSchool of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, IrelandCentre for Global Health and Equity, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaSchool of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandIntroduction Health literacy research has focused predominantly on the adult population, and much less is understood about this concept from an adolescent perspective. The tools currently available to measure adolescent health literacy have been adapted from adult versions. This limits their applicability to young people because of the developmental characteristics that impact on adolescents’ behaviour, including impulse control and judgement skills. This protocol describes the intended development and validity testing of a questionnaire to measure health literacy in adolescents.Methods and analysis This protocol describes this mixed methods study that has three phases: the first phase will involve grounded research with adolescents using qualitative group interviews, co-design and concept mapping workshops to understand what health and healthy behaviours mean to adolescents and to explore their health literacy needs and the potential domains for the questionnaire. The draft health literacy domains identified will be presented to the youth advisory panel, and the questionnaire will be altered based on their feedback. Cognitive pretesting of the questionnaire items will also be conducted. Phase 2 will involve piloting the questionnaire to a two-stage random sample of young people in five urban and rural schools in Ireland. Test–retest reliability will be conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis will also be conducted to analyse the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Phase 3 will involve the questionnaire being rolled out to a nationally representative sample of adolescents (n=6052) in Ireland to assess their levels of health literacy.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval to conduct this study has been granted from the University College Dublin Human Research Ethics Committee – Sciences (LS-20–08). Informed assent from adolescents and informed consent from parents/guardians will be sought. The findings of this research will be disseminated at national and international conferences, as well as through publication in peer-reviewed journals.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e039920.full
spellingShingle Sarahjane Belton
Johann Issartel
Richard H Osborne
Ailbhe Spillane
Clare McDermott
Shandell Elmer
Celine Murrin
Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
BMJ Open
title Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
title_full Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
title_fullStr Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
title_full_unstemmed Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
title_short Development and validity testing of the Adolescent Health Literacy Questionnaire (AHLQ): Protocol for a mixed methods study within the Irish school setting
title_sort development and validity testing of the adolescent health literacy questionnaire ahlq protocol for a mixed methods study within the irish school setting
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/11/e039920.full
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