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Reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the substance dependence severity scale
Antonio Vélez-Moreno1, Francisco González-Saiz, Antonio J Rojas
1Department of Clinical, Experimental and Social Psychology, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to estimate the reliability and provide evidence for the validity of the Spanish version of the Substance Dependence Severity Scale (SDSS).
Methods:
A total of 211 substance abusers recruited at a public center that provides treatment for substance-related disorders in an outpatient setting were assessed. Reliability was estimated by Cronbach's α and test-retest. Validity evidence was studied by analyzing the relationships with the European Addiction Severity Index (EuropASI) and Health-Related Quality of Life for Drug Abusers (HRQoLDA).
Results:
Adequate reliability coefficients were found for the dependence scales of all addressed substances (α = 0.737 to 0.877; test-retest r = 0.796-0.952). Low internal consistency was found for the abuse scales (α = 0.329-0.694), and adequate test-retest coefficients on alcohol, cocaine and heroin (test-retest r = 0.708-0.902). The reliability of the cannabis abuse scales was inadequate. The SDSS scores showed significant relationships with the EuropASI and HRQoLDA dimensions.
Conclusions:
The psychometric analyses validate the use of the severity of dependence scales. The SDSS abuse scales must be used taking the limitations detected into consideration.
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