Development and validation of the help-seeking intention scale in university students with hazardous and harmful consumption of alcohol

IntroductionThe Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has been proposed as suitable to study help-seeking intentions. This paper aims to develop the IH-RHAC scale (Help-seeking intention in young adults with hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption) with the TPB. The objectives of the study were: (a) to analyze the structure, reliability, and validity of the instrument, (b) to identify whether attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, and past help-seeking would predict help-seeking intention, and (c) to assess concurrent validity.MethodsFrom a total of 2,011 students who responded to the surveys, the sample was made up of 263 university students aged 18 to 29 with hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption practices, who responded to an online questionnaire including the AUDIT, IH-RHAC, and a scale of barriers and resources for alcohol consumption. Partial least squares structural equations (PLS-SEM) were used to test the hypotheses about reliability, validity of the scales, and prediction of the constructs: attitude, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and help-seeking in the past about intention. Pearson’s correlations were used to obtain evidence of concurrent validity.ResultsThe results displayed favorable psychometric characteristics. The internal measurement model showed that attitude, self-efficacy, and prior help-seeking predicted a 27% help-seeking variance. Subjective norm did not predict intention.DiscussionIt has been concluded that this is an instrument with psychometric support that can contribute to designing and/or evaluating interventions that promote the students’ search for help.