Internal consistency and factor structure of the adherence scale for alcoholics anonymous

Mauro Barbosa Terra,Airton Tetelbom Stein,Luciana Dias Athayde,Helena Maria Tannhauser Barros,Ivan Figueira,Dartiu Xavier Da Silveira

doi:10.1590/s0103-166x2011000100011

Abstract

The objective of the article was to estimate the internal consistency and factor structure of the Adherence Scale for Alcoholics Anonymous Groups. The scale was applied to 257 alcoholic patients who had been admitted for treatment in 3 hospitals in Porto Alegre, about 6 months earlier. The scale was produced based on an adaptation of the Drug Attitude Inventory Scale. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach alpha. Data were subjected to a principal component analysis. The coefficient of internal consistency was 0.71. All items showed corrected item-total correlation coefficients above 0.29. Questionnaire items with factor loading of 0.57 or above were considered in the final factor solution. The factor analysis resulted in 2 dimensions which corresponded to 67.01% of the total variance. This scale appears to be a valid instrument for use in a population of alcoholic patients.

Highlights

The objective of the article was to estimate the internal consistency and factor structure of the Adherence Scale for Alcoholics Anonymous Groups
300 alcoholic patients were interviewed. They were hospitalized at two psychiatric hospitals and at a center specialized in chemical dependence in a general hospital in Porto Alegre.The patients’ages ranged between 20 and 60 years, and they met the inclusion criteria of a diagnosis of alcohol dependence according to responses to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIV-Axis I Disorders - Patient Edition (SCID-I/P) (First, Spitzer, Gibson & Williams, 1996), and had been referred to alcoholics anonymous by their doctor
At the 6-month follow-up, 19.1% (n=49) of the alcoholics adhered to alcoholics anonymous, and 58.3% of these showed strong adherence, 35.4% showed partial adherence, and 5.3% weak adherence to the alcoholics anonymous

Summary

Introduction

The objective of the article was to estimate the internal consistency and factor structure of the Adherence Scale for Alcoholics Anonymous Groups. The factor analysis resulted in 2 dimensions which corresponded to 67.01% of the total variance This scale appears to be a valid instrument for use in a population of alcoholic patients. O objetivo do artigo foi estimar a consistência interna e a estrutura fatorial da Escala de Adesão a Grupos de Alcoólicos Anônimos. Patients can refer to alcoholics anonymous groups as part of a multiple treatment approach. This is of great importance since the alcoholic tends to find it difficult to reconstruct his own identity through social interaction and, in many cases, is influenced by his own social group to return to addictive behavior, albeit involuntarily (Campos & Ferreira, 2007)

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