Development of a scale to measure Korean smoking temptation

PURPOSE: Smoking temptation is the central concept related to relapse within the context of smoking. Therefore for effective smoking cessation interventions, a scale to measure smoking temptation is necessary. This study was carried out to develop scale to measure smoking temptation. METHOD: This study utilized Cronbach's alpha, spilt-half coefficient and test-retest correlation in analyzing the reliability of the collected data and expert group, factor analysis, item analysis multitrait-multimethod method and known-group technique to analyze validity. RESULT: Twenty-five items were selected from a total of 33 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency was .93, spilt-half coefficient .91, and 2 week interval test-retest correlation .93 for the 25 items on the smoking temptation scale. Five factors evolved by factor analysis, which explained 57.28 % of the total variance. The smoking temptation scale was effective in differentiating the subjects at each stage of change for smoking cessation and there were significant negative correlations between smoking temptation and self efficacy for smoking cessation and significant positive correlations between smoking temptation and the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The scale for measuring smoking temptation in Korean in this study was evaluated as a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity.