Cross-cultural validation of a three component alcohol attitude scale

Attitudes and their measurement constitute important aspects of the study of human behavior regarding the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages. A Three Component Alcohol Attitude Scale was developed to measure three attitude components separately and in total. This study validated the scale utilizing a cross-cultural approach. Hypotheses were formulated on the assumption that, if the scale was valid, all 54 items in each of the instrument's three components, as well as the total scale, would discriminate significantly between a sample of US university students and their Egyptian counterparts in terms of their attitudes toward alcohol use and abuse. The scale was translated into Arabic, the English and Arabic scales then were administered to a sample of 400 university students at two comparable major universities in the US and Egypt. The data were subjected to Pearson's correlation, t-test, stepwise discriminate analysis, split-half, and Cronbach (alpha) reliability. Forty-nine of 54 items, each of the three components, and the total instrument discriminated significantly between US students and their Egyptian counterparts, confirming the previous validation of the scale.