Assessment of the questionnaire of cognitive factors and adolescent smoking behavior: A psychometric study

Abstract

Background: Reductions in the age at onset of smoking to adolescence is a public health concern. Evidence suggests that cognitive factors(CF)play an important role in adolescent smoking behavior. the present study aimed to perform a psychometric analysis of the questionnaire of CF on smoking behavior and evaluate the theoretical framework with a path analysis approach in adolescents in Isfahan, Iran. Methodology: This psychometric cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 340 adolescents selected by simple random stratified clustered sampling in Isfahan in 2019. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire on cognitive variables based on Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Results: The participants’ mean age was16.67(0.98) years. The content validity index, content validity ratio, and total corrected item-total correlations index of the questionnaire of CF were 0.79, 0.56, and 0.362 respectively. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the first and second-order measurement models of cognitive variables and the results of path analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the explanatory model of CF. Conclusion: This study proposed a reliable and valid explanatory model of CF and its questionnaire for smoking behavior. The questionnaire can also be utilized in future research on smoking behavior in adolescents. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.