VALIDACIÓN DE LA ESCALA DE INVOLUCRAMIENTO RELIGIOSO UNIVERSAL AGE I-E 12 EN ESCOLARES ENTRE 8 Y 19 AÑOS DEL NORTE DE CHILE

Background: The Universal Age scale has been widely used as part of versions derived from the original Allport and Ros (1967) scale of religious involvement in adolescent and adult populations. However, it has not been validated exhaustively and in Latin America it does not have any type of validation in child-youth population. It is relevant to have a scale that allows to measure this construct in infantile-juvenile population given the favorable evidence of religious involvement on mental health and we-ll-being variables in this population. Objective: to validate the scale Age-Universal I-E 12 in infantile-juvenile population in Chile. Method: A cross-sectional study is carried out to verify the psychometric properties of the scale in schoolchildren between the ages of 8 and 19 in northern Chile. A sample of 3857 students of both sexes is used, which includes schools of different dependence. The data are analysed by ESEM and CFA. Results: Unlike the dimensionality frequently found in university students, of three factors, in the present study a bifactorial structure is obtained where the intrinsic dimension is combined with the personal extrinsic one. Goodness-of-fit indicators are adequate (RMSEA =,062; CFI =.987; TLI =.984). The reliability of the full scale is.91, while its combined intrinsic dimension is.91 and its social extrinsic dimension is.81. being appropriate. Conclusion: The scale has psychometric properties suitable for use in Chile and probably Latin America.