Factorial validation of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) in assessing sexual behaviour patterns in Bolivian and Ecuadorian adolescents

Figures & data

Table 1 Crude and weighted samples of respondents from Bolivia and Ecuador

		Crude sample			Weighted sample
		Bolivia	Ecuador	Total	Bolivia	Ecuador	Total
Age	14	518	656	1,174	705	481	1,186
	15	803	651	1,454	704	482	1,186
	16	877	580	1,457	705	477	1,182
	17	877	398	1,275	705	479	1,184
	18	443	116	559	704	489	1,193
Total		3,518	2,401	5,919	3,523	2,408	5,931

Table 2 Distribution of scores in response to items on the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA)

AWSA item	Strongly agree (=1)	Agree (=2)	Disagree (=3)	Strongly disagree (=4)	Assessment of distribution symmetry^a
V01 Swearing is worse for a girl than for a boy	2,850 (48.5%)	1,938 (33.3%)	684 (11.6%)	404 (6.9%)	−31.8%
V02 On a date, the boy should be expected to pay all expenses	1,763 (30.0%)	1,964 (33.4%)	1,737 (29.5%)	415 (7.1%)	−13.4%
V03 On average, girls are as smart as boys^b	2,486 (42.3%)	2,126 (36.2%)	988 (16.8%)	275 (4.7%)	−28.5%
V04 More encouragement in a family should be given to sons than daughters to go to college	1,025 (17.5%)	1,620 (27.6%)	2,043 (34.8%)	1,180 (20.1)	+4.9%
V05 It is alright for a girl to want to play rough sports like football^b	1,574 (26.7%)	2,432 (41.3%)	1,373 (23.3%)	511 (8.7%)	−18.0%
V06 In general, the father should have greater authority than the mother in making family decisions	576 (9.8%)	944 (16.1%)	2,798 (47.6%)	1,555 (26.5%)	+24.1%
V07 It is alright for a girl to ask a boy out on a date^b	1,091 (18.6%)	2,196 (37.4%)	1,636 (27.9)	952 (16.2)	−6.0%
V08 It is more important for boys than girls to do well in school	974 (16.6%)	1,599 (27.2%)	2,382 (40.6%)	914 (15.6%)	+6.2%
V09 If both husband and wife have jobs, the husband should do a share of the housework such as washing dishes and doing the laundry^b	3,109 (52.9%)	2,366 (40.2%)	262 (4.5%)	148 (2.5%)	−43.1%
V10 Boys are better leaders than girls	634 (10.8%)	1,154 (19.7%)	2,724 (46.5%)	1,350 (23.0%)	+19.5%
V11 Girls should be more concerned with becoming good wives and mothers than desiring a professional or business career	586 (10.0%)	731 (12.4%)	2,327 (39.6%)	2,229 (38.0%)	+27.6%
V12 Girls should have the same freedom as boys^b	2,560 (43.5%)	2,194 (37.2)	858 (14.6%)	279 (4.6%)	−30.7%

^a‘−’ floor effect, and ‘ + ' ceiling effect, calculated as 50% – (proportion of ‘agree strongly’ and ‘agree’).

^bReverse-scored.

Table 3 Factor loadings of the principle components analysis and item-total correlation of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA)

	Loadings
	Three factors analysis
AWSA item^a	F1 (PD)	F2 (ED)	F3 (BD)	Single factor analysis	Item-total correlation
V10 Boys are better leaders than girls	0.73	0.19	−0.09	0.73	0.60
V08 It is more important for boys than girls to do well in school	0.67	−0.02	0.13	0.62	0.54
V06 In general, the father should have greater authority than the mother in making family decisions	0.64	0.13	0.11	0.65	0.56
V11 Girls should be more concerned with becoming good wives and mothers than desiring a professional or business career	0.63	0.16	−0.05	0.63	0.55
V04 More encouragement in a family should be given to sons than daughters to go to college	0.58	0.03	0.35	0.59	0.56
V12 Girls should have the same freedom as boys^b	0.11	0.63	−0.02	0.35	0.40
V09 If both husband and wife have jobs, the husband should do a share of the housework such as washing dishes and doing the laundry^b	0.14	0.61	−0.20	0.34	0.35
V05 It is alright for a girl to want to play rough sports like football^b	0.06	0.60	0.29	0.34	0.44
V03 On average, girls are as smart as boys^b	0.12	0.51	−0.30	0.27	0.32
V07 It is alright for a girl to ask a boy out on a date^b	−0.32	0.37	0.64	−0.05	0.24
V02 On a date, the boy should be expected to pay all expenses	0.21	−0.20	0.60	0.20	0.32
V01 Swearing is worse for a girl than for a boy	0.15	−0.09	0.47	0.17	0.30
Eigen value	2.35	1.66	1.37	2.57
% of variance	19.6	13.8	11.4	21.5
Total variance explained	44.8			21.5
KMO measure of sampling adequacy	0.76
Bartlett's test of Sphericity	<0.001
Cronbach α: Total	0.71	0.48	0.24	0.61
Boys	0.70	0.48	0.21	0.61
Girls	0.66	0.43	0.33	0.58
Adjusted Cronbach α^c: Total	0.85	0.73	0.60	0.61
Boys	0.85	0.73	0.52	0.61
Girls	0.82	0.70	0.66	0.58

^aItems are sorted by loadings; factor rotation converged in eight iterations.

^bReverse-scored.

^cAdjusted by Spearman-Brown prediction formula to 12 items scale.

F1 (PD) – power dimension; F2 (ED) – equality dimension; F3 (BD) – behavioural dimension.

The bolded terms indicate the main loadings for corresponding dimensions.

Table 4 Descriptive statistics for the estimated measures of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) by country and gender

Factor	Country	Gender	n	Mean±SE	Proportion of positive values (%)	p [F test]
F1 (PD)	Bolivia + Ecuador	Boys	2,964	−0.413±0.018	32.5	<0.001
		Girls	2,967	0.413±0.016	69.8	[F(1;5929) = 1216.8]
		Boys + girls	5,931	0±0.013	51.2
	Bolivia	Boys	1,765	−0.410±0.022	32.2	<0.001
		Girls	1,758	0.427±0.020	71.2	[F(1;3521) = 770.4]
		Boys + girls	3,523	0.008±0.017	51.7
	Ecuador	Boys	1,200	−0.416±0.029	33.0	<0.001
		Girls	1,209	0.391±0.025	67.7	[F(1;2406) = 450.4]
		Boys + girls	2,408	−0.011±0.021^a	50.4
F2 (ED)	Bolivia + Ecuador	Boys	2,964	−0.070±0.019	46.5	<0.001
		Girls	2,967	0.070±0.017	53.5	[F(1;5929) = 29.6]
		Boys + girls	5,931	0±0.013	50.0
	Bolivia	Boys	1,765	−0.182±0.025	42.4	<0.001
		Girls	1,758	0.053±0.022	53.0	[F(1;3521) = 49.6]
		Boys + girls	3,523	−0.065±0.017	47.7
	Ecuador	Boys	1,200	0.094±0.029	52.5	0.969
		Girls	1,209	0.095±0.028	54.3	[F(1;2406) = 0.1]
		Boys + girls	2,408	0.095±0.020^b	53.4
F3 (BD)	Bolivia + Ecuador	Boys	2,964	0.196±0.018	60.6	<0.001
		Girls	2,967	−0.195±0.018	43.3	[F(1;5929) = 235.8]
		Boys + girls	5,931	0±0.013	51.9
	Bolivia	Boys	1,765	0.181±0.023	60.7	<0.001
		Girls	1,758	−0.166±0.024	45.1	[F(1;3521) = 109.6]
		Boys + girls	3,523	0.008±0.017	52.9
	Ecuador	Boys	1,200	0.217±0.027	60.4	<0.001
		Girls	1,209	−0.239±0.029	40.9	[F(1;2406) = 131.1]
		Boys + girls	2,408	−0.012±0.020^c	50.6
One-factor solution	Bolivia + Ecuador	Boys	2,964	−0.373±0.018	33.6	<0.001
		Girls	2,967	0.373±0.016	65.7	[F(1;5929) = 959.8]
		Boys + girls	5,931	0±0.013	51.9
	Bolivia	Boys	1,765	−0.417±0.023	31.5	<0.001
		Girls	1,758	0.384±0.021	66.6	[F(1;3520) = 658.4]
		Boys + girls	3,523	−0.017±0.017	49.0
	Ecuador	Boys	1,200	−0.308±0.029	36.7	<0.001
		Girls	1,209	0.357±0.025	64.4	[F(1;2406) = 310.1]
		Boys + girls	2,408	0.026±0.020^d	50.6
Total score	Bolivia + Ecuador	Boys	2,786	2.656±0.007	34.0^#	<0.001
		Girls	2,783	2.863±0.007	54.2	[F(1;5566) = 417.5]
		Boys + girls	5,569	2.759±0.005	44.1
	Bolivia	Boys	1,653	2.635±0.010	32.3	<0.001
		Girls	1,662	2.869±0.009	55.3	[F(1;3313) = 314.9]
		Boys + girls	3,315	2.752±0.007	43.8
	Ecuador	Boys	1,132	2.686±0.012	36.5	<0.001
		Girls	1,121	2.854±0.011	52.7	[F(1;2251) = 112.9]
		Boys + girls	2,254	2.770±0.008^e	44.5

^a p=0.473 [F(15,929) = 0.5]

^b p<0.001 [F(15,929) = 36.6]

^c p=0.448 [F(15,929) = 0.6]

^d p=0.101 [F(15,929) = 2.7]

^e p=0.108 [F(15,566) = 2.6] comparing adolescents from Bolivia and Ecuador.

^#Here and below, proportion of cases with total score >2.75.

Fig. 1 Path diagram of confirmatory factor analysis with standardized estimates (data from Bolivia and Ecuador, N = 5,919).

V01÷V12 are observed variables (AWSA items); err01÷err12 are unobserved variables; F_PD is power dimension, F_ED is equity dimension and F_BD is behavioural dimension.

Table 5 Estimates of three-factor model of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) scale obtained from confirmatory factor analysis of data from Bolivia and Ecuador

			Estimates
			Bolivia+Ecuador	Bolivia	Ecuador
Standardized regression weights (factor loadings):
V10	<---	F_PD	0.864	0.867	0.858
V08	<---	F_PD	0.669	0.653	0.686
V06	<---	F_PD	0.711	0.705	0.722
V11	<---	F_PD	0.679	0.697	0.651
V04	<---	F_PD	0.665	0.652	0.682
V12	<---	F_ED	0.522	0.569	0.459
V09	<---	F_ED	0.519	0.547	0.469
V05	<---	F_ED	0.422	0.374	0.588
V03	<---	F_ED	0.416	0.429	0.380
V07	<---	F_BD	0.709	0.737	0.710
V02	<---	F_BD	0.447	0.535	0.209
V01	<---	F_BD	0.289	0.298	0.174
Correlations:
F_PD	<-- >	F_ED	0.604	0.608	0.676
F_PD	<-- >	F_BD	0.862	0.841	0.863
F_ED	<-- >	F_BD	0.501	0.404	0.825
Model fit:
RMSEA (90% CI)			0.071 (0.067–0.076)	0.076 (0.074–0.079)	0.079 (0.076–0.082)
TLI			0.192	0.239	0.146
CFI			0.364	0.401	0.327

Table 6 Association of gender scale factors with sexual intercourse, positive experience during last sexual intercourse and current use of contraception among boys and girls in Bolivia and Ecuador

		Bolivia		Ecuador		Bolivia + Ecuador
	Value of the factor	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls	Boys	Girls
Reported sexual intercourse
F1 (PD)	Negative	35.9	17.2	31.5	22.3	34.1	19.5
	Positive	35.3	14.9	29.5	24.3	33.0	18.6
	OR (95% CI)	0.98 (0.79–1.20)	0.84 (0.68–1.21)	0.91 (0.70–1.19)	1.12 (0.84–1.49)	0.95 (0.81–1.12)	0.95 (0.78–1.16)
F2 (ED)	Negative	36.1	14.4	30.4	20.8	34.1	17.0
	Positive	35.2	16.6	31.3	25.9	33.5	20.5
	OR (95% CI)	0.96 (0.79–1.17)	1.18 (0.91–1.53)	1.04 (0.82–1.33)	1.33 (1.02–1.74)	0.97 (0.84–1.14)	1.26 (1.04–1.51)
F3 (BD)	Negative	27.6	15.6	28.7	23.0	34.1	19.5
	Positive	41.0	15.5	32.4	24.5	33.0	18.6
	OR (95% CI)	1.83 (1.49–2.25)	0.99 (0.76–1.29)	1.19 (0.92–1.53)	1.09 (0.83–1.53)	0.95 (0.81–1.12)	0.95 (0.78–1.16)
One-factor solution	Negative	35.8	15.7	31.0	21.1	33.9	18.0
	Positive	35.5	15.5	30.7	25.1	33.4	19.7
	OR (95% CI)	0.99 (0.80–1.22)	0.99 (0.75–1.30)	0.99 (0.77–1.27)	1.25 (0.94–1.66)	0.97 (0.83–1.15)	1.09 (0.90–1.33)
Total score	≤2.75	35.1	16.3	31.3	20.9	33.6	18.2
	>2.75	37.1	15.7	30.3	26.4	34.1	19.9
	OR (95% CI)	1.09 (0.88–1.36)	0.96 (0.74–1.25)	0.95 (0.73–1.24)	1.36 (1.03–1.79)	1.03 (0.87–1.21)	1.12 (0.92–1.35)
Reported positive experience during last sexual intercourse
F1 (PD)	Negative	52.1	61.6	66.8	79.3	57.8	70.5
	Positive	63.2	59.8	68.4	73.3	65.5	66.8
	OR (95% CI)	1.58 (1.11–2.25)	0.93 (0.55–1.57)	1.07 (0.67–1.72)	0.72 (0.39–1.32)	1.38 (1.04–1.83)	0.84 (0.57–1.25)
F2 (ED)	Negative	52.3	51.3	62.1	69.2	55.5	60.5
	Positive	60.6	67.3	71.9	78.8	65.5	73.5
	OR (95% CI)	1.41 (1.01–1.96)	1.96 (1.18–3.24)	1.56 (1.01–2.42)	1.66 (0.96–2.88)	1.52 (1.17–1.87)	1.81 (1.27–2.62)
F3 (BD)	Negative	56.6	60.1	71.5	74.4	63.0	67.7
	Positive	55.3	60.7	64.9	76.0	58.8	68.5
	OR (95% CI)	0.95 (0.67–1.36)	1.02 (0.62–1.69)	0.74 (0.46–1.18)	1.09 (0.63–1.90)	0.84 (0.64–1.11)	1.04 (0.72–1.50)
One-factor solution	Negative	52.0	58.4	65.7	71.4	57.1	65.0
	Positive	63.9	61.4	70.2	76.9	66.6	69.6
	OR (95% CI)	1.63 (1.14–2.34)	1.13 (0.67–1.91)	1.23 (0.78–1.96)	1.33 (0.75–2.35)	1.50 (1.13–1.99)	1.23 (0.84–1.80)
Total score	≤2.75	53.6	55.6	65.9	62.7	58.3	58.6
	>2.75	61.4	63.7	69.1	80.6	64.5	72.9
	OR (95% CI)	1.38 (0.96–1.98)	1.40 (0.85–2.33)	1.16 (0.72–1.86)	2.49 (1.42–4.39)	1.30 (0.98–1.73)	1.89 (1.30–2.75)
Reported current use of contraceptives
F1 (PD)	Negative	29.8	28.5	35.3	40.5	31.1	39.9
	Positive	29.3	30.9	33.3	29.9	31.8	29.4
	OR (95% CI)	0.97 (0.69–1.37)	1.12 (0.67–1.89)	0.92 (0.60–1.42)	0.63 (0.38–1.02)	1.03 (0.77–1.37)	0.63 (0.43–0.91)
F2 (ED)	Negative	24.6	24.8	30.4	27.7	27.7	25.2
	Positive	35.2	33.8	37.4	43.2	35.5	38.0
	OR (95% CI)	1.66 (1.17–2.35)	1.55 (0.91–2.63)	1.37 (0.88–2.11)	1.99 (1.21–3.25)	1.44 (1.10–1.89)	1.82 (1.25–2.63)
F3 (BD)	Negative	26.2	29.5	33.7	40.3	28.3	31.1
	Positive	31.6	29.8	35.2	31.1	32.8	34.8
	OR (95% CI)	1.30 (0.91–1.87)	1.101 (0.60–1.71)	1.07 (0.69–1.65)	0.67 (0.41–1.09)	1.24 (0.92–1.65)	1.18 (0.83–1.69)
One-factor solution	Negative	27.7	29.3	34.6	37.4	67.4	23.5
	Positive	33.5	29.8	33.3	34.9	60.8	28.3
	OR (95% CI)	1.31 (0.91–1.89)	1.02 (0.59–1.78)	0.94 (0.60–1.48)	0.90 (0.54–1.51)	0.75 (0.57–0.99)	1.29 (0.86–1.94)
Total score	≤2.75	28.6	28.9	32.6	27.0	30.1	28.0
	>2.75	33.3	31.3	32.8	39.1	32.9	35.3
	OR (95% CI)	1.25 (0.86–1.80)	1.18 (0.66–1.89)	1.01 (0.63–1.61)	1.73 (1.02–2.94)	1.14 (0.85–1.52)	1.40 (0.97–2.04)

Bolivia + Ecuador (N = 5919).

The bolded terms are significant at p<0.05.