The Psychometric Properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Physiotherapy AND Pediatric Neurorehabilitation Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Health AND Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Background: Substance abuse is a critical problem in most countries, especially in developing ones. Early
detection is the pre-requisite of early control, for which reliable and valid tools are required. In the present
study, we aimed at measuring the psychometric properties of the 10-item Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10)
in Iranian individuals.
Methods: After translation and back-translation of the questionnaire, 244 adults were recruited from Tehran
Megacity, Iran, and completed the questionnaires. Participants were recruited by a multistage randomized
cluster sampling method. Reliability was determined by Cronbach’s alpha. Also, construct validity was
evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA).
Findings: The internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the total score of the Persian
version of DAST-10 was 0.93. EFA evoked only one factor for DAST-10. The CFA for 1-factor models for
DAST-10 indicated an acceptable fit for the proposed models.
Conclusion: The results prove desirable reliability and validity of the Persian version of the DAST which can
be utilized as a screening instrument for drug abuse among Iranian adults.

Keywords

Addiction & Health
Volume 12, Issue 1
January 2020
Pages 25-33

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics