TITLE:
Prescription Drug Attitudes Questionnaire: Development and Validation
AUTHORS:
Jamie S. Bodenlos, Andrew Malordy, Marleah Noonan, Aubreyanne Mayrsohn, Brian Mistler
KEYWORDS:
Drugs, Attitudes, Prescriptions, Scale Development, Psychometrics
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.14,
September
30,
2014
ABSTRACT: The
purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale measuring attitudes
towards prescription drug use for nonmedical reasons. Participants (N = 310)
were recruited from a small northeastern college and completed the Prescription
Drugs Attitudes Questionnaire (PDAQ), the College Alcohol Problems Scale
(CAPS-R) and answered questions about current substance use. Principal
components analysis of the PDAQ yielded a two-factor structure accounting for
58.2% of the total variance in attitudes toward prescription drugs where the
factors represented items concerning Recreational and Achievement-Oriented
attitudes. The PDAQ had good internal consistency (.94) and convergent validity
with a measure of alcohol problems (r = .37), alcohol use (r = .44), and illicit drug use (r = .36). The PDAQ is a reliable and
valid scale that can be used by researchers and clinicians to understand and
prevent prescription drug abuse among youth.