ABSTRACT
Objective:To develop a scale used to measure smoking-related attitudes in Chinese secondary school students. Methods:Based on literatures published in China and abroad and suggestions by relevant specialists and teachers, we developed a self-administered scale with 16-item used to measure smoking-related attitudes in Chinese secondary school students. Factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity of the scale. The differences of the scores between trying smokers and non-smoker, and males and females were tested for assessing the discriminant validity of the scale. Cronbach's alpha for the total scale and the sub-scales was calculated for evaluating the internal consistency, and the split-half reliability test analysis was also conducted. Moreover, 112 subjects were re-investigated after two weeks of the first survey, and the difference and correlation of scores between the two surveys were tested for assessing the stability of the scale. Results: Factor analysis identified two potential components that could explain 46.2% of the total variance, and the first factor including 9 items was defined as "The opinions to tobacco and smoking-related behaviors", and the second one including 7 items was defined as "The opinions to measures for preventing and controlling smoking". The mean score of the scale in non-smokers was significantly higher than that of the trying smokers, while the mean score in females was significantly higher than that in males. The Cronbach'? coefficient was 0.87 for Factor One, 0.75 for Factor Two, and 0.86 for the general scale, and the coefficient of the split-half reliability was 0.71 for Factor One, 0.59 for Factor Two, and 0.72 for the general scale. By analyzing the data of 112 students who participated in both surveys, we obtained test-retest reliability of factorⅠas 0.72, of factor Ⅱ as 0.44 and of all items as 0.67, and all the correlation coefficients were statistically significant. There were no differences for the scores of the scale between the two surveys. Conclusion: The results indicated that the smoking-related attitude scale had reasonable validity and reliability,It could provide valuable reference for future similar surveys in China.