Development of a multidimensional measure of tobacco dependence in adolescence

The objective of this research was to develop a multidimensional measure of tobacco dependence, sensitive to signs of incipient dependence and relevant to adolescents. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of students attending randomly selected high schools in two regions of British Columbia, Canada. Of the 3280 adolescents who completed the survey, 17% (n=562) indicated that they had smoked at least once in the month preceding the survey and were classified as “smokers.” Ninety-one percent of the smokers (n=513) completed all or most of the items and comprised the sample for the analysis. The survey included a number of items related to smoking status and nicotine dependence, including the newly developed Dimensions of Tobacco-Dependence Scale (DTDS), a 54-item multidimensional measure of tobacco dependence. Exploratory factor analyses using MINRES was used to examine the dimensions of the DTDS. The measure was found to include four dimensions: social reinforcement, emotional reinforcement, sensory reinforcement, and physical reinforcement. All subscales had adequate reliability (Cronbach's α coefficients >.70).