Reliability and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Arabic Version of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA)

Abstract

To develop an Arabic version of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA), and to examine its internal reliability and factor structure. Participants were 175 substance abuse/dependent male patients recruited from Al-Amal Hospital of Substance Abuse in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The URICA was administered to all subjects by two experienced psychologists working at the detoxification and rehabilitation units. All subscales showed good internal reliability and factorial validity. Coefficient alphas for each of the four scales of the URICA (precontemplation, contemplation, action and maintenance) revealed that each scale has adequate and acceptable internal consistency (ranging between 0.76 and 0.89). The correlation coefficients between all subscales confirmed the expected prediction in that scores for adjacent stages of changes showed significantly higher correlations than the scale scores for nonadjacent stages. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed an adequate to reasonable fit to the intended subscales and replicated the four-factor model of the original work. The Arabic version of the URICA has shown encouraging psychometric properties, supporting the validity and reliability of the four factors of the scale. The implications of these findings, and recommendation for future research, are described.