Predicting treatment-seeking behavior: psychometric properties of a brief self-report scale

Development of a brief instrument to assess attitudes toward treatment and predict treatment-seeking behavior among out-of-treatment substance misusers is described. Exploratory factor analysis of an initial pool of 41 items identified four subscales: Perceived need for treatment: perceived drug problem severity; motivation to quit; and negative attitudes toward treatment. Psychometric analyses of data from 535 substance misusers participating in an outreach intervention project provided substantial support for the reliability and construct validity of the first three subscales, and marginal support for the fourth. Evidence of predictive validity was provided by further analyses indicating significant relationships between the three primary scales and both treatment admissions and treatment-seeking during a 3-month follow-up period. The final instrument, the Treatment Attitude Profile (TAP), contains 25 items in a self-report format suitable for use with limited literacy populations in field or office settings.