The Smoking Abstinence Expectancies Questionnaire - Italian version: analysis of psychometric properties

Background, Aims: The Smoking Abstinence Expectancies Questionnaire (SAEQ) is a quick and reliable scale assessing the expected consequences of short-term nicotine abstinence. The present study sought to translate the SAEQ to Italian and assess its psychometric properties. Methods: A sample of 366 daily smokers (59.3% female; mean (± SD) age = 34.0 ± 11.2 years; mean (± SD) cigarettes smoked per day = 13.2 ± 7.5; mean (± SD) years of smoking = 11.3 ± 9.2 years) completed the SAEQ and a series of rating scales measuring nicotine dependence, alcohol use, anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline and after 3 months (retest). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. We evaluated the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Results: Factor analysis identified a 3-factor solution and confirmatory factor analysis suggested a 3-factor model best fits the data. The Italian version of the SAEQ showed excellent internal consistency and good test-retest reliability. There also was evidence of convergent validity and discriminant validity. Discussion: The Italian version of the SAEQ showed good psychometric properties although the factor structure differs slightly from the English-language version of the scale (i.e., 3 versus 4 factor model)