Propriedades psicométricas do inventário de habilidades de enfrentamento para a abstinência de álcool e outras drogas (IDHEA-AD)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to construct and analyze the psychometric properties of an instrument capable of assessing the anticipatory coping skills for abstinence from substances. For the elaboration of items, 18 classes of the anticipatory coping skills as described in literature and obtained from interviews with people in abstinence from substances have been selected. Each one was described and subclasses, that could represent it, were drafted in the form of 92 items. After a semantic analysis and evidences of content validity made by referees, the instrument contains now 68 items. This version was submitted to tests to check application procedures and interpretation of responses, therefore another item was deleted, with others being rewritten. The instrument with 67 items was named Inventory of Anticipatory Coping Skills Inventory for the Abstinence from Alcohol and Other Drugs (IDHEA-AD, as in portuguese). To check evidences of its internal structure validity, it was subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The samples for this stage were 422 people in treatment for alcohol or crack cocaine abuse or dependence. The data obtained were considered adequate for performing factorial analysis, with KMO index of 0.88 and significant Bartlett sphericity test (&#967; ² = 9032.1, p < 0.001). The Maximum Likelihood method of extraction was used with Promax rotation and variables with factorial loading lower than 0.40 supressed. A structure composed of three factors revealed itself adequate and reliable, with 30 items, Cronbach's alpha of 0.88 and total explained variance of 43.02%. The first factor, named "Assertiveness and planning for high-risk situations of substance use" is composed of 14 items with a Cronbach s alpha of 0.89 and mainly involves refusal skills to the offer of substances. The second, "Expression of positive feelings for abstinence sustenance" is related to ability to demonstrate affection, which contributes to the development of less stressful social situations. It has eight items and Cronbach s alpha of 0.83. Finally, the third factor "Emotional self-control facing adverse situations" involves mainly the self-control of anger, has eight items and Cronbach s alpha of 0.77. This structure also showed good evidence of convergent validity by construct-related (self-efficacy for abstinence), concurrent criterion validity (with level of involvement with the substance and abstinence length), reliability for temporal stability and reliability by consistency in relation to the content. Furthermore, as expected, it was observed that variables such as gender, educational level and type of consumed substance seem not to affect the obtained results. When using the instrument to characterize the repertoire of coping skills in substance dependents or abusers, only abstinence length has proved to be a critical variable. A longer abstinence is related to a higher repertoire of anticipatory coping skills. All results indicate the quality of the IDHEA-AD, which allows the proceeding of the investigation in order to meet the requirements set by the Federal Council of Psychology, so it can be used by professionals in the clinical evaluation.