Passive Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Attitude Scale: A Scale Development Study in High School Students

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Tobacco Control

Background:

• Passive exposure to tobacco smoke poses significant health risks to adolescents.
• Accurate measurement of adolescent attitudes towards secondhand smoke is essential for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable instrument for assessing high school students' attitudes toward passive exposure to tobacco smoke.
• To provide a psychometrically sound tool for researchers and public health professionals.

Main Methods:

• Methodological study involving 1,000 high school students.
• Data collection using the "Descriptive Information Form" and the "Passive Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Attitude Scale."
• Statistical analyses included validity (content, factor) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha, test-retest) assessments.

Main Results:

• The developed scale demonstrated excellent content validity (CVI=0.94).
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a robust 16-item, three-factor structure explaining 58.7% of the variance.
• High reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha for the total scale (0.906) and subscales, and a high test-retest reliability (0.926).

Conclusions:

• The "Passive Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Attitude Scale" is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring adolescent attitudes.
• This validated scale can be utilized to understand and address adolescent perceptions of secondhand smoke exposure.