Psychometric analysis of the substance use risk profile scale (SURPS) among Iranian Medical University students

Abstract

One of the main factors of tendency to high risk behaviors such as substance use is the personality factors; on the other hand the limited number of available standard scales is among the main barriers ahead of conducting relevant researches. The objective of this study was psychometrics of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) among Iranian male medical university students. This cross-sectional study was done among 425 male college students in Iran, 2014. The participants were selected using random sampling method with proportional to the size probability. The SURPS is comprised of four factors of anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, sensation seeking, and hopelessness in order to predict the substance use risk. Data were analyzed by the SPSS Software (ver. 21.0) using CITC, KMO, Bartlett’s test and alpha cronbach coefficient. In addition, Amos Software (ver. 21.0) was applied to assess confirmatory factor analysis by using CMIN, CMIN/DF, CFI, NFI, PNFI and RMSEA. All the studied options in analyzing exploratory factor with factorial loadings of >0.4 were confirmed. In explanatory factor analysis, the results of KMO test were calculated at 0.842. Totally, four personality variables described 53.34 of the assumed model changes. The Cronbach’s alpha for the measured structures including hopelessness, impulsivity, sensation seeking and anxiety sensitivity were 0.81, 0.80, 0.77 and 0.78, respectively. Factor analyses provided support of SURPS in order to evaluate personality factors among Iranian college students is valid and reliable. SURPS scale can be applied for studies among Iranian college students. © Medwell Journals, 2016.