Iranian university students' alcohol-related knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire (ISKAP alcohol Q): development and psychometric properties.

INTRODUCTION

Given the strict prohibition of alcohol use in certain religions, such as Islam, and the criminalization of its production, distribution, and consumption in a country like Iran, it becomes essential to utilize a standardized and culturally appropriate instrument to study various dimensions of alcohol consumption within this context. Accordingly, this study aimed to develop the Iranian Students' Alcohol-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Questionnaire (ISKAP Alcohol Q) and evaluate its psychometric properties.

METHODS

This study was conducted in three phases. After a comprehensive literature review, the item pool was developed. Content validity was determined based on the content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). For face validity, 11 experts were asked to interpret the items. The clarity and readability of the instrument were checked by 15 students. Using stratified sampling proportional to the population size, 512 respondents from the universities of Kerman, southeast Iran, were recruited from May to September 2023 to participate in the validation process of this study. Construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability of the questionnaire was also checked by calculating Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability for each factor.

RESULTS

The final questionnaire, besides the demographic (7 items) and questions related to the first experience of alcohol consumption and cost (5 items), included 33 items, including three main constructs: knowledge, attitude, and practice. The constructs of knowledge and practice included one factor each, with seven and five items, respectively. The construct of attitude also included the three factors of positive attitude, social influences attitude, and individual acceptance attitude, which included 21 items (factor loading > 0.4). Cronbach's alpha was acceptable for five factors (ranging from 0.75 to 0.93). Composite reliability was ≥ 0.71 for all factors.

CONCLUSION

The ISKAP Alcohol Q is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Iranian university students regarding alcohol consumption. It is currently accessible by contacting the authors of the article and can be utilized to assess alcohol consumption and its associated factors in future studies.