Comparison of the printed and online administration of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2)

OBJECTIVE: To compare the traditional printed form of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire with a proposed online form in terms of validity, reliability, and applicability. METHODS: A crossover design study was conducted with 157 undergraduate students. Half of the sample answered the printed questionnaire first and then answered the online questionnaire 7 days later, while the other half of the sample did the inverse. Cronbach's alpha was used to analyze the internal consistency of both the online and printed questionnaires. The construct validity was analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis, using a weighted least square mean and adjusted variance estimation and oblique rotation. The quality of the model was tested with fit indices. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis showed the 19-item structure with five factors: χ(2) of 230.718; degrees of freedom of 142; χ(2)/degrees of freedom of 1.625; comparative fit index of 0.978 and root mean square error of approximation of 0.073. All items presented factorial loads above 0.5. There was also excellent consistency between the formats of administration in all dimensions, with Cronbach's alpha values above 0.70. The stability between the formats of administration varied between 0.78 (95%CI: 0.69-0.85) and 0.84 (95%CI: 0.77-0.89), suggesting desirable confidence between both formats of administration. CONCLUSION: The five-factor model of the online Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire shows internal consistency both in terms of the scale dimensions as well as in terms of the total items.