Psychiatrists’ Attitude Towards Smoking Cessation Support (PATSS): Exploring Psychometric Properties of the Measurement Tool

Abstract The attitude of psychiatrists plays a crucial role in screening and supporting smoking cessation, especially with people with serious mental illness (SMI). The development of an attitude scale can improve the success of quitting among people with SMI. This study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of psychiatrists’ attitudes toward smoking cessation support (PATSS). Based on the literature review, the attitude scale, which comprised 15 items, was developed and tested with 289 psychiatrists. The tool’s psychometric properties were tested by examining item performance, content and construct validity (by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability. The content validity was demonstrated by content validity ratio (CVR) (0.80) and item content validity index (ICVI) (0.88). Both EFA and CFA identified four factors: Priority and Time Commitment, Recovery Impact and Training, Social Support and Patient Factors, and Coping Mechanisms and Rights. A Cronbach alpha of (0.81) demonstrated high internal consistency. PATSS was found to be a valid and reliable tool to assess the attitude of psychiatrists towards smoking cessation support provided to people with SMI.