Development and evaluation of the environmental factors in drug abuse tendency instrument among adolescents in Malaysia.

Abstract

Adolescent drug abuse is a growing issue globally, including in Malaysia, with increasing rates. However, there is limited research on tools assessing adolescents' vulnerability to substance abuse, particularly using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory. To fill this gap, this study aimed to develop and validate the Environmental Factors in Drug Abuse Tendency Instrument content validation and statistical analyses. Content validity was established through expert reviews, with 10 experts assessing the questionnaire. The instrument achieved a high Content Validity Index (CVI) of >0.80, indicating strong agreement among experts. Construct validity was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), revealing that from the original 43 items, only 10 items were retained due to empirical factor loadings. The final instrument measured a single environmental factor contributing to 19.1% of the total variance, with factor loadings ranging from .352 to .674. Additionally, the reliability assessment using Cronbach's alpha demonstrated a high internal consistency of 0.793, exceeding the acceptable threshold of 0.70. These findings suggest that while content validity was robust, the construct validation process led to significant item reduction, highlighting the importance of rigorous statistical validation. This instrument provides a validated measure for assessing environmental influences on adolescent drug abuse tendencies. It offers valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and intervention programs in designing targeted strategies to mitigate adolescent substance abuse.