Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41477228›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in public health2025

From knowledge to attitude: design and initial validation of scales for assessing psychoactive substance consumption among university students.

Riwa Kfoury, Pascale Salameh, Hélène Peyriere

Abstract readValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Riwa KfouryPCCEI, Univ Montpellier, INSERM, Univ Antilles, Montpellier, France.
Pascale SalamehFaculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Hadath, Lebanon.
Hélène PeyrierePCCEI, Univ Montpellier, INSERM, Univ Antilles, Montpellier, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The misuse of psychoactive substances among university students has emerged as a pressing public health issue, particularly in Lebanon, where research on this phenomenon is limited. This study aimed to develop and validate scales that assess knowledge and attitudes toward Psychoactive Substance Consumption (PSC), evaluate their psychometric properties, identify factors associated with these scores, and explore the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and PSC among university students. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 414 university students from 29 institutions across Lebanon during the 2023-2024 academic year using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Participants were recruited via email from three prominent universities with initial Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and the sample was expanded through snowballing due to IRB challenges caused by economic and political crises. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed using SPSS to evaluate construct validity, and reliability was assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha. Results: EFA identified two factors for the knowledge scale with eigenvalues over 1, explaining 51.4% of the variance. The model demonstrated adequacy, with a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of 0.864, a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity, and a high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.829). Similarly, the attitude scale items converged over two factors, explaining 58.8% of the variance, with a KMO of 0.850, a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity, and good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.826). The study found that greater knowledge was associated with students who had higher grades and those who were aware of the availability of psychoactive substances in nasal inhalation form. However, knowledge showed no significant correlation with attitudes ( Conclusions: The scales developed in this study demonstrated strong reliability and validity, positioning them as effective tools for assessing knowledge and attitudes associated with psychoactive substance consumption among university students. The multivariate results underscore the impact of academic, socioeconomic, and mental health factors, suggesting the need for interventions that specifically address these determinants.

Indexed as

Health Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticePsychotropic DrugsStudentsSubstance-Related DisordersAdolescentAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLebanonMalePsychometricsReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultPsychotropic Drugsattitudedevelopment and validationknowledgepsychoactive substance consumptionsubstance useuniversity students

Identifiers

PMID41477228
PMCPMC12747911

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.