Using item response theory to study the convergent and discriminant validity of three questionnaires measuring cigarette dependence

To determine whether the Cigarette Dependence Scale, the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence, and the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) reliably and correctly assessed both weakly and severely dependent individuals, the authors collected data via Internet from 2,435 current smokers, from 2004 to 2007. They used a 2-parameter item response model to determine the difficulty and discrimination of each question and used correlations between latent scores to assess convergent and discriminant validity. The reliability of all scales was close to or exceeded .70. Both the Cigarette Dependence Scale and the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence had 1 misfitting item. Each NDSS scale had at least 2 misfitting items. The information curve of each of the questionnaires peaked between -2 and 2 and was low at both extremes. All questionnaires had adequate reliability and were more informative for a medium level of the underlying cigarette dependence continuum than for both extremes of this continuum. The correlations between latent scores indicated good convergent validity between questionnaires and low discriminant validity between NDSS subscales, except for Tolerance. This result suggests that nicotine dependence may not be composed of 5 dimensions but may be unidimensional and distinct from reduced sensitivity to the effects of smoking (Tolerance).     

Spanish adaptation of the NDSS (Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale) and assessment of nicotine-dependent individuals at primary care health centers in Spain

The availability of adequate instruments for the assessment of nicotine dependence is an important factor that is relevant in the area of tobacco addiction. In this study, we present a Spanish validation of the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (NDSS) (Shiffman, Waters, & Hickcox, 2004). The sample was composed ofpatients, all daily smokers, who visited their General Practitioner (GP) at five Primary Health Care Centers in different cities of Spain (N = 637). The results indicated adequate reliability for the general factor that assesses nicotine dependence (NDSS-Total) (Cronbach's alpha = .76). Factor analysis confirms the five factors of the original validation: Drive, Continuity, Stereotypy, Priority, and Tolerance. It must be noted that reliability is adequate for the first, and moderate or low for the rest. The NDSS-T and its scales correlate significantly with the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), with the nicotine dependence criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) as assessed through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), with carbon monoxide levels in expired air (CO), and with the number of cigarettes smoked. The ROC curve indicates that the NDSS-T has a score of .79 which is under the curve (.69 for the FTND), thus the prediction of nicotine dependence is adequate. We conclude that this instrument is useful (in terms of its total score NDSS-T) for assessing nicotine dependence for Spanish smokers (in Spain), as has been found in other countries, language groups, and cultures.     

The relationship of childhood trauma to nicotine dependence in pregnant smokers

Pregnant women with high levels of nicotine dependence are the least likely to quit smoking spontaneously during pregnancy or to benefit from smoking cessation interventions. In the general population, there is increasing evidence of a relationship between smoking, nicotine dependence, and exposure to childhood trauma. We examined the relationship of childhood trauma to several measures of nicotine dependence and evaluated whether this relationship was mediated by major depressive disorder or depressive symptom severity in pregnant smokers. Moderate to extreme levels of childhood trauma were significantly related to smoking within 5 minutes or less of waking, and to the Behavioral Choice-Melioration, Negative Reinforcement, and Tolerance subscales of the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM-68) scale. The relationships between childhood emotional abuse and the WISDM-68 Total and Negative Reinforcement subscale were partially mediated by depressive symptoms. Results suggest that childhood trauma may be a risk factor underlying nicotine dependence in pregnant smokers. Increased understanding of the relationship of affect regulation to smoking in individuals with childhood trauma histories may aid in the development of more effective treatments of nicotine dependence for this population of smokers.     

Unidimensionality of life satisfaction and its relation to social desirability: a confirmatory study of a short form of the Life Satisfaction Scale

This study investigated construct validity of a short version of the Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale developed from an exploratory factor analysis in 1990 of the original version of Salamon and Conte's Life Satisfaction scale. First, a confirmatory factor analysis (maximum likelihood method) was conducted on 149 adult and elderly Italians to assess whether the latent variable of the Life Satisfaction Short Form scale was adequately represented by one factor. Analysis showed a good fit for the proposed unidimensional model, the items achieved good internal consistency on the scale, and no age differences arose in the score for the Life Satisfaction factor. Second, the correlations between the items measuring Life Satisfaction and the Eysenck 1985 Lie scale indicated that the items on the Life Satisfaction Short Form are largely independent of social desirability for younger and older adults.     

尼古丁依赖对男性吸烟者感知戒烟行为控制的预测：社会支持与抱怨批评的作用

考察尼古丁依赖对男性吸烟者感知戒烟行为控制的预测及他人戒烟社会支持和抱怨批评的调节作用。对326名男性吸烟者进行问卷调查,结果显示：（1）尼古丁依赖显著负向预测感知行为控制;（2）社会支持和抱怨批评共同调节两者关系;在高社会支持且低抱怨批评、高抱怨批评且低社会支持的条件下,尼古丁依赖的预测作用不显著。结果说明,高社会支持在尼古丁依赖削弱感知行为控制过程中起缓冲作用,而高抱怨批评削弱社会支持的缓冲作用。     

Development of a brief questionnaire of smoking urges--Spanish

Using 2 different samples of smokers, the authors developed and cross-validated a Spanish, brief version of the Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU; S. T. Tiffany & D. J. Drobes, 1991). The smokers in Study 1 (N = 245) and Study 2 (N = 225) were from the province of Alicante, Spain. In both samples, a 2-factor model provided an excellent fit for a 10-item, all positively worded version of the QSU. Moreover, in both studies each factor uniquely contributed to predict nicotine dependence. Overall, there was clear evidence of construct validity for the multidimensionality of smoking cravings among Spanish smokers.     

The Development of the Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale: An Abbreviation of Sprecher and Fehr’s Compassionate Love Scale

This purpose of this study is to develop a brief version of Sprecher and Fehr’s Compassionate Love Scale (2005). This was accomplished by administering the 21-item scale to college student participants and subsequently selecting five items for a brief version. The five items were selected based on the evaluation of high correlation coefficients between individual item responses and the overall total 21 questions from the original scale, the results of factor analysis, and items that had moderate means and high standard deviations. The correlation between the original and brief version is 0.96, while the internal reliability of the brief version, using Cronbach’s alpha, is 0.90.     

The development of a smoking-specific locus of control scale

Abstract

A 32-item questionnaire was designed to measure multidimensional locus of control beliefs specifically about giving up smoking (SLC Scale), and administered along with the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) and a short smoking information questionnaire to 211 smokers. Psychometric analyses of the SLC scales included a series of repeated factor and reliability analyses which resulted in a final three-factor solution, containing 11 of the original SLC items. The three factors represented the following types of locus of control for smoking: a combined Internal-Chance factor, a Significant Others factor, and a Powerful Others factor with Chronbach's alpha coefficients of internal reliability of 0.63, 0.56 and 0.55 respectively. Analyses relating to the reliability and validity of the SLC scale are presented and discussed. As expected the SLC correlated more sensibly and significantly with subjects' reported behaviour and intentions regarding giving up smoking than did the MHLC scales.     

Development and validation of a measure of perceived relative deprivation in childhood

Childhood adversity is known to impact psychological functioning and physical health in later life, but research into the mechanisms responsible has been impeded by the absence of a suitable retrospective measure of perceived relative deprivation in childhood. We developed and validated scores of the Perceived Inequality in Childhood Scale (PICS). In total, 683 students from Liverpool University, Liverpool Hope University and the University of East London were sampled by means of online methods. The data were separated using odd–even methods and an exploratory factor analysis identified a 2 factor solution: perceived relative deprivation (12 items) and family social capital (4 items). The measure was then subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and a 3 factor structure was revealed. The scale was further validated against Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores of childhood addresses. The PICS is a brief, practical scale suitable for both small and large-scale research studies.     

The acute effects of nicotine on positive and negative affect in adolescent smokers

Although adolescent cigarette smoking remains a critical public health concern, little is known about the reinforcing mechanisms governing smoking in this vulnerable population. To assess predictions derived from both positive and negative reinforcement models of drug use, the authors measured the acute effects of nicotine, as administered via tobacco cigarettes, on both positive and negative affect in a group of 15- to 18-year-old smokers. A matched group of nonsmokers served as a comparison group. Findings revealed that whereas adolescents who smoked a cigarette experienced reductions in both positive and negative affect, the observed reductions in negative affect were moderated by nicotine content of the cigarette (high yield vs. denicotinized), level of nicotine dependence, level of baseline craving, and smoking expectancies pertinent to negative affect regulation. Nonsmokers experienced no change in affect over the 10-min assessment period, and no interaction effects were observed for positive affect. Overall, the findings conform to a negative reinforcement model of nicotine effects and strongly suggest that, even among young light smokers, nicotine dependence and resultant withdrawal symptomatology may serve as motivating factors governing smoking behavior.     

Impaired goal-directed behavioural control in human impulsivity

Two dissociable learning processes underlie instrumental behaviour. Whereas goal-directed behaviour is controlled by knowledge of the consequences, habitual behaviour is elicited directly by antecedent Pavlovian stimuli without knowledge of the consequences. Predominance of habitual control is thought to underlie psychopathological conditions associated with corticostriatal abnormalities, such as impulsivity and drug dependence. To explore this claim, smokers were assessed for nicotine dependence, impulsivity, and capacity for goal-directed control over instrumental performance in an outcome devaluation procedure. Reduced goal-directed control was selectively associated with the Motor Impulsivity factor of Barrett's Impulsivity Scale (BIS), which reflects propensity for action without thought. These data support the claim that human impulsivity is marked by impaired use of causal knowledge to make adaptive decisions. The predominance of habit learning may play a role in psychopathological conditions that are associated with trait impulsivity.     

Assessment of Nicotine Dependence Among Substance Abusing Adolescent Smokers: A Comparison of the DSM-IV Criteria and the Modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire

Nicotine dependence has been found to be a significant factor in adolescent smoking persistence. However, measures of this construct are primarily adult-derived, limiting their utility as bases for characterizing nicotine dependence and formulating youth intervention strategies. This issue is of particular importance among substance abusing youth who have substantially higher rates of cigarette smoking than do adolescents in the general population. The objectives of this preliminary study were to examine the construct validity of the DSM-IV nicotine dependence criteria and the modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire (mFTQ) and to compare the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for nicotine dependence with the mFTQ in a sample of 67 adolescent smokers in treatment for substance abuse. Results revealed that more participants were classified as nicotine dependent using DSM-IV criteria than by mFTQ scores. Little evidence was found for construct validity of these measures and convergence between the two measures was low. Findings also suggested that the present measures do not capture optimally broad dimensions of adolescent nicotine dependence.     

Short forms of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale

Mattick and Clarke's (1998) Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) are commonly used self-report measures that assess 2 dimensions of social anxiety. Given the need for short, readable measures, this research proposes short forms of both scales. Item-level analyses of readability characteristics of the SIAS and SPS items led to the selection of 6 items from each scale for use in the short forms. The SIAS and SPS short forms had reading levels at approximately the 6th and 5th grade level, respectively. Results using nonclinical (Study 1: N = 469) and clinical (Study 2: N = 145) samples identified these short forms as being factorially sound, possessing adequate internal consistency, and having strong convergence with their full-length counterparts. Moreover, these short forms showed convergence with other measures of social anxiety, showed divergence from measures assessing related constructs, and predicted concurrent interpersonal functioning. Recommendations for the use of these short forms are discussed.     

Validity evidence of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form among depressed smokers

Background/Objective

A measure of Behavioral Activation (BA) is highly recommended when evaluating BA treatment effects for smokers with depression. Recently, a short version of the Behavioral Activation for Depression scale (BADS-SF) has been developed as a means of assessing changes in activation and avoidance patterns. To date there is no validated version of this questionnaire in Spanish. This study sought to adapt the BADS-SF to a Spanish population of depressed smokers. Method A sample of 169 smokers (72.2% female) with elevated depressive symptomatology completed the BADS-SF. Results A bi-factorial structure was obtained: Activation and Avoidance. Results indicated an acceptable internal consistency for both the Activation (ω = .85) and the Avoidance subscales (ω =.70). Overall, convergent validity was obtained with Activation and Avoidance subscales being related to other depression-related measures such as depressive symptomatology (Activation r = ?.29; Avoidance r = .35), environmental reward (Activation r = .40; Avoidance r = ?.41) and, nicotine dependence (Avoidance r = .23). This latter variable was the only one not showing a statistically significant association with the Activation factor (r = ?.12). Conclusions The Spanish BADS-SF can be considered as a reliable and valid instrument when assessing behavioral activation among clinically depressed smokers.     

Dispositional Insight Scale: Development and Validation of a Tool That Measures Propensity Toward Insight In Problem Solving

This article reports the development of a brief self-report measure of dispositional insight problem solving, the Dispositional Insight Scale (DIS). From a representative Australian database, 1,069 adults (536 women and 533 men) completed an online questionnaire. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 5-item scale, with all items loading onto a single factor. Internal consistency was acceptable with a Cronbach’s alpha of .74. The DIS showed convergent validity with other constructs that are theoretically related to insight: High need for cognition, intuition and positive affect. Normative data for the scale are also reported. The DIS appears to be useful for measuring a disposition toward insight in problem-solving.     

运动情境四维成就目标定向量表的初步编制——以第十二届特奥会中国籍智力残疾运动员为被试

该研究在文献分析和访谈的基础上,确定智力残疾运动领域成就目标定向的四维结构并编制初测问卷。对400名特奥会运动员进行了施测,对数据进行项目分析、验证性因素分析和信度分析。验证性因素分析和信度分析显示,问卷具有较好的效度和信度,可以作为运动领域四维目标定向的测量工具。     

Factorial structure of the perceived stress scale and implications for scoring

IntroductionThe 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a brief, widely-used measure of perceived stressful experiences that evaluates the degree to which people perceive their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable or overloaded.ObjectiveThe present study examined the factor structure of the Greek version of the PSS-10.MethodUsing a representative sample of 320 adults from Cyprus, alternative confirmatory factor analytic models were compared to specifically assess bidimensional versus unidimensional specifications for the scale.ResultsA bifactor model with a general factor which loads on all items and a specific one which loads on positively-worded items that capture the notion of self-efficacy to deal with stressful situations, was found to fit well to the data, while providing evidence of a robust latent factor of general distress. Reliability and construct validity evidence with multiple criterion variables were also examined.ConclusionsAlthough a simple unidimensional specification has not been empirically supported in previous research, bifactor modeling exemplifies the extent of multidimensionality and implies that a single score may be reliably used for practical purposes.     

Cross-cultural similarity in the love attitudes scale: short form.

Recently, Hendrick, Hendrick, and Dicke presented two short forms of the Love Attitudes Scale, the first using 24 items with 4 items for each subscale and the second using 18 items with 3 items for each subscale. Their data indicated that the two short versions have even stronger psychometric properties than the original scale. This study reports an 18-item short form of the scale developed independently in Taiwan using 460 graduate and undergraduate students in the fall semester of 1997. The results demonstrated a remarkable cross-cultural similarity in the development and response to the short form of the scale and its applicability to a broader cultural setting.     

A Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis of the MCMI-II Clinical Syndrome Scales

Multitrait-multimethod procedures and factor analyses were utilized to assess convergent/discriminant validity of the revised version of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) clinical syndrome scales and effects of item overlap on scale performance. Except for the Delusional Disorder Scale (PP), convergent validity was supported, but poor discriminant validity was found for the Alcohol Dependence (B) scale, Drug Dependence (T) scale, and Scale PP. Item overlap did not influence performance for many scales. In fact, results indicate that some scales, such as Bipolar: Manic (N), may perform better in overlapping form, whereas others, such as Somatoform (H) and Scales B and T, are most affected by item overlap. Factor structure was generally stable, regardless of whether overlapping or nonoverlapping scales were utilized. However, substance abuse/ dependence emerged as an independent factor when common item artifact was removed. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical practice and further research.     

A multitrait-multimethod analysis of the MCMI-II clinical syndrome scales

Multitrait-multimethod procedures and factor analyses were utilized to assess convergent/discriminant validity of the revised version of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) clinical syndrome scales and effects of item overlap on scale performance. Except for the Delusional Disorder Scale (PP), convergent validity was supported, but poor discriminant validity was found for the Alcohol Dependence (B) scale, Drug Dependence (T) scale, and Scale PP. Item overlap did not influence performance for many scales. In fact, results indicate that some scales, such as Bipolar:Manic (N), may perform better in overlapping form, whereas others, such as Somatoform (H) and Scales B and T, are most affected by item overlap. Factor structure was generally stable, regardless of whether overlapping or nonoverlapping scales were utilized. However, substance abuse/dependence emerged as an independent factor when common item artifact was removed. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for clinical practice and further research.