Validation of a school children addictive behaviors questionnaire
Author: Melki W, Letaief M, Mechri A, Kachouri R, El May W, Corten P, Mahjoub A, Soltani MS, Pelc I, Gaha L
Source:
La Tunisie Medicale, 84(10), 603-606.
The aim was to develop and validate an addictive behaviors screening tool in
school children. METHODOLOGY: A cross sectional study including a self
administrated 223 item questionnaire developed in Arabic language. The
questionnaire included identification of the student and seven life domains:
school, family, addiction, relationships with peers, leisure and well being,
risky behaviors and personality traits. N=854 high school children. of Monastir
City. RESULTS: the questionnaire Alpha Cronbach's Coefficient ranged between 0.3
and 0.8. Only items with a coefficient higher than 0.6 were maintained in the
final version. The time reliability by using the Bland and Altman method 15 days
after the first measure showed a Pearson's coefficient of 0.81. Validity
evaluated by principal components analysis led to 3 independent factors
consisting respectively in 20, 4 and 3 well correlated items: family, school and
risky behaviors. CONCLUSION: validated version of the questionnaire consisted in
102 items, easy to read and understand. This version doesn't require much time to
be filled in and takes into consideration cultural particularities of the school
children of Monastir. It could be considered as an interesting tool for both the
assessment and the prevention of addictive behaviors in school.