Assessing self-determined motivation for addiction treatment: validity of the Treatment Entry Questionnaire

Although legal, formal, and informal social controls are frequently used to pressure individuals to enter treatment, motivational consequences of using these tactics have been neglected. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a useful perspective for understanding client experiences of social controls and highlights the importance of self-determined motivation for long-term behavior change. This study assessed the construct validity of the Treatment Entry Questionnaire (TEQ), a brief scale derived from SDT to measure identified, introjected, and external treatment motivation. Two independent samples of clients entering Canadian residential and outpatient treatment completed TEQ items (ns = 529 and 623). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 9-item version of the scale, with 3 factors aligning with SDT motivational subtypes. Subscales showed high internal consistency and correlated as expected with social controls and perceived coercion at treatment entry. The TEQ-9 is a valid option for assessing self-determined motivation in clinical practice and evaluating coerced addiction treatment.