Development and validation of the Decisional Balance Scale for problematic Prescription Drug use (DBS-PD)-20.

Sabine I Braun, Gallus Bischof, Hans-Jürgen Rumpf

University of Lübeck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany. sabine.braun@hvf-bs.net

Addictive behaviors 2012 Apr

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The purpose of this study was to develop a Decisional Balance Scale (DBS) for Prescription Drugs (PD), the DBS-PD-20, to examine its factorial structure and test its reliability and external validity by comparison across Stages of Change. A sample of 126 general hospital inpatients with either regular use of PD (more than 60 days within the last three months) or abuse of or dependence on PD was recruited in a northern German city. Exploratory principal components analysis revealed a two-factor structure, the Pros and Cons of PD intake, as expected. While the DBS-PD-20 showed good reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.91 for the Pros and=0.89 for the Cons), external validity could be proven for the Cons (significant increase from precontemplation to contemplation/action), whereas the Pros showed an insignificant increase. Although further validation is needed, the DBS-PD-20 may be helpful for interventions and research. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Sabine I Braun, Gallus Bischof, Hans-Jürgen Rumpf. Development and validation of the Decisional Balance Scale for problematic Prescription Drug use (DBS-PD)-20. Addictive behaviors. 2012 Apr;37(4):444-8