Using the Short-Form Cigarette Dependence Questionnaire in a Busy Clinical Practice

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Nursing

Background:

• Cigarette dependence is a significant public health issue.
• Accurate assessment tools are crucial for effective smoking cessation interventions.
• Existing measures may require refinement for specific populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To refine the 29-item Cigarette Dependence Questionnaire (CDQ-29) into a shorter, more efficient version.
• To examine the psychometric properties and predictive utility of the refined questionnaire.
• To validate the new scale for assessing cigarette dependence in diverse samples.

Main Methods:

• Item reduction of the CDQ-29 based on redundancy.
• Development and validation of a one-factor 12-item Cigarette Dependence Questionnaire (CDQ-12).
• Assessment of internal consistency, concurrent validity (saliva cotinine, cigarette withdrawal), and model fit across three independent samples.

Main Results:

• A 12-item version (CDQ-12) was developed with good internal consistency (reliability coefficient = .92).
• The CDQ-12 demonstrated concurrent validity comparable to the CDQ-29.
• A moderate correlation was found between CDQ-12 scores and cigarette withdrawal symptoms (r = .63, p < .01).

Conclusions:

• The CDQ-12 is a reliable and valid Chinese-language instrument for assessing cigarette dependence.
• This refined tool can effectively guide nursing interventions for culturally appropriate smoking cessation programs.
• The CDQ-12 offers a practical alternative for measuring nicotine dependence in research and clinical settings.