Rasch-modeling the Portuguese SOCRATES in a clinical sample.

The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) assesses motivation for treatment in the drug-dependent population. The development of adequate measures of motivation is needed in order to properly understand the role of this construct in rehabilitation. This study probed the psychometric properties of the SOCRATES in the Portuguese population by means of the Rasch Rating Scale Model, which allows the conjoint measurement of items and persons. The participants were 166 substance abusers under treatment for their addiction. Results show that the functioning of the five response categories is not optimal; our re-analysis indicates that a three-category system is the most appropriate one. By using this response category system, both model fit and estimation accuracy are improved. The discussion takes into account other factors such as item format and content in order to make suggestions for the development of better motivation-for-treatment scales.