Abstract
The purpose of this study was to develop a Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) for Prescription Drugs (PD), the DBS-PD-20, to examine its factorial structure and test its reliability and external validity by comparison across Stages of Change. A sample of 126 general hospital inpatients with either regular use of PD (more than 60. days within the last three months) or abuse of or dependence on PD was recruited in a northern German city. Exploratory principal components analysis revealed a two-factor structure, the Pros and Cons of PD intake, as expected. While the DBS-PD-20 showed good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91 for the Pros and = 0.89 for the Cons), external validity could be proven for the Cons (significant increase from precontemplation to contemplation/action), whereas the Pros showed an insignificant increase. Although further validation is needed, the DBS-PD-20 may be helpful for interventions and research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Addictive Behaviors |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Pages (from-to) | 444-448 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISSN | 0306-4603 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 04.2012 |
Funding
This study is part of the German research network EARLINT (EARLy substance use INTervention) and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health. The present analysis is part of the project MIMiK (grant no. 15 02/68661). The German Federal Ministry of Health had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Research Areas and Centers
- Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)
