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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Development and validation of the Physical Activity Intention Scale for Children and Adolescents with Cancer
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1 Intensive Care Unit of Cardiac Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong,
China
2 School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Qilu Medical College, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong,
China
3 College of Stomatology, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong,
China
EJMO, 025490504 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025490504
Received: 3 December 2025 | Revised: 9 April 2026 | Accepted: 21 April 2026 | Published online: 19 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nursing Care in Cancer)
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract
Introduction: Physical activity benefits children and adolescents with cancer, improving well-being and reducing complications, yet participation remains insufficient.
Objective: This study develops and validates the Physical Activity Intention Scale for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (PAISCAC) to assess participation within this population.
Methods: Based on the theory of planned behavior, an initial item pool was generated through literature review, expert consultation, and a preliminary survey. From November 2022 to June 2023, 440 children and adolescents aged 6–16 years with cancer were recruited through convenience sampling. The reliability and validity of the scale were assessed through item analysis, validity analysis, and reliability analysis.
Results: The scale consisted of 16 items across four dimensions: attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention. All items were significantly correlated with the total score (r = 0.458–0.866, p < 0.05), and significant differences were observed between high- and low-scoring groups (p < 0.05). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable model fit (χ2/df = 2.985, root mean square error of approximation = 0.094, Normed Fit Index = 0.912, Incremental Fit Index = 0.940, Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.922, and Comparative Fit Index = 0.939). Composite reliability ranged from 0.714 to 0.955, while average variance extracted ranged from 0.423 to 0.876. The overall Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.935, with the dimensions of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention yielding coefficients of 0.949, 0.818, 0.791, and 0.909, respectively.
Conclusion: The PAISCAC demonstrates satisfactory reliability and validity and can be used as a reliable instrument to assess physical activity intention among children and adolescents with cancer.
Keywords
Children
Adolescents
Cancer
Physical Activity Intention Scale
Reliability
Validity
Theory of planned behavior
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
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