FACTOR STRUCTURE ANALYSIS OF SHORT SMOKING CONSEQUENCES QUESTIONNAIRE (SSCQ) IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Background: Following the accessibility of cigarettes to the public, the prevalence of smoking has risen in the population, especially among adolescents. In developing countries, 48% of males and 7% of females smoke. Factor analysis is a valuable technique for simplifying complex variables and is often used in the development of clinical assessment instruments. Objectives: This study holds the objective to analyze the factor structure of Short Smoking Consequence Questionnaire (SSCQ) among Pakistani adolescent population. Methods: A Cross-sectional Study at University of Punjab. June 2016 to October 2017.SSCQ was used to assess outcome expectancies among 255 university students. Confidentiality was prioritized and privacy was given while they answered the Questionnaire. The confirmatory factor analysis was done for all the four latent variables using software AMOS plug-in for SPSS Ver: 21.0. Graphics and model Fit was evaluated by using reference guide Adapted from Bentler (1990) for GFI, CMIN, df, CFI, NNFI, and RMSEA with LO HI 90% confidence interval. Results: Factor analysis showed a Chi-square /df (CMIN/DF) is < 3, quite below the upper threshold of 5.00 with a significant p value showing a poor fit of model due to large sample size. Good of fit index (GFI) .833 and Adjusted Good of fit index (AGFI) .789 were tolerable. Conclusion: The study concluded that S-SCQ is a legitimate tool and it can be useful in assessing the expected outcome of smoking among the youth of Pakistan, with a tolerable Good of fit index (GFI) and Adjusted Good of fit index (AGFI).