Passive exposure to tobacco smoke attitude scale: A scale development study in high school students

This study, carried out methodologically in order to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool that can measure high school students' attitudes toward passive exposure to tobacco smoke. The study sample consisted of 1000 students studying in seven different high schools in the central district of the city of Bolu. The data collection of the study took place using the "Descriptive Information Form" and the "Passive Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Attitude Scale". The content validity of the draft scale, which was created as a result of the literature review and content analysis of the qualitative interviews, was evaluated by taking expert opinions. In data analysis, descriptive analyses, explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, item-total correlation, Cronbach's alpha coefficient if the item is deleted, Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient, item analysis based on lower and upper groups, Pearson correlation analysis, Hotelling's T² and Tukey Summability tests were used. The content validity of the study was 0.94, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of the exploratory factor analysis was 0.929, and the Bartlett Sphericity test chi-square value was 3403.45 and p < 0.001. According to the results of the explanatory factor analysis, it was determined that the scale had a three-factor structure with factor loading values varying between 0.636 and 0.802, explaining 58.728% of the variance. According to the results of confirmatory factor analysis, fit indices were determined as x²/sd=2.33, CFI=0.96, RMSEA=0.05, GFI=0.94, AGFI=0.92, RMR=0.06, NFI=0.93, TLI=0.95 and IFI=0.96. The reliability analyses determined that the item-total correlation values of the scale were between 0.433 and 0.735. As a result of the item analysis based on the lower-upper groups, the study determined that the scale items were distinctive. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.906, while the Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the subdimensions were 0.903 for smoke exposure, 0.710 for companionship, and 0.693 for open space. The test–retest correlation result was 0.926. The scale was summable, and there was no response bias. As a result, it was determined that the Passive Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Attitude Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool with sixteen items and three-factor structure for high school students.