AN ARABIC LANGUAGE VERSION OF THE HEALTH PROMOTION LIFE-STYLE PROFILE

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability o f an Arabic version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile instrume nt in Jordan, whose society and culture differ from that of North Amer ica, where the instrument was developed. The instrument was translated into Arabic, back-translated, and pilot tested to ascertain cultural sensitivity. The Arabic version was then evaluated using a convenience sample of 950 adults in the northern part of Jordan using a principal components factor analysis. The order of factors was not entirely ide ntical to those isolated previously during the psychometric assessment of the English language version. Only the structure of three factors- self-actualization, health responsibility-and exercise were the same a s those obtained in the English version. The forced, six factor soluti on explained only 39.3% of the variance in the measure. The alpha reli ability coefficients were 0.89 for the total scale and ranged from 0.8 5 to 0.60 for the subscales. It was concluded that the Arabic version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile has demonstrated initial rel iability and validity. Further testing is recommended.