Construct validity and reliability of college students' responses to the reasons for smoking scale.

When utilizing self-assessments to determine motives for health behaviors, it is essential that the resulting data demonstrate sound psychometric properties. The purpose of this research was to assess the reliability and construct validity of college students' responses to the Reasons for Smoking Scale (RFS). Confirmatory factor analyses and internal consistency reliability coefficients were completed. The data of 110 college students who smoke fell short of providing a good fit, chi2(130) = 343.856, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.123, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.793, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.756. Reliability coefficients ranged from .615 to .912. Three subscales improved reliability by removing an item. Although the fit indices showed improvement with these modifications, good model fit was still not achieved, chi2(50) = 148.059, RMSEA = 0.134, CFI = 0.872, TLI = 0.831. Although other populations' responses to the RFS have demonstrated validity and reliability, this college population's did not. Health educators should use caution when interpreting the results of college students' responses to the RFS because they may be incomplete and/or inaccurate.

An online learning module focused on smoking education and prevention for college students: implications for college health instructors and allied health professionals.

The purpose of this research was to pilot-test the effectiveness of an online learning module focused on smoking for an undergraduate general education fitness and wellness course. Students enrolled in a required fitness and wellness course were given the opportunity to participate. Participants (n = 510) completed a brief demographic questionnaire and a 10-question pretest about the effects of smoking before viewing a 15-minute presentation about the effects of smoking and completing the same 10 questions as a post-test. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to evaluate knowledge gains. An overall time effect was observed (pretest score 4.9 +/- 1.3, post-test score 7.2 +/- 2.1). Significantly greater knowledge gains were found in nonsmokers (2.1 +/- 2.2) than in smokers (1.1 +/- 2.2). Females (2.3 +/- 2.3) had significantly greater knowledge gains than males (1.5 +/- 2.2). Evidence supporting the effectiveness of the online learning module included significant knowledge gains for both smokers and nonsmokers, and the participants who smoked agreed the online learning module encouraged them to quit. In this research, students were also grouped by major (health-related majors vs non-health-related). There were 118 health-related majors in the sample, with 110 of those students completing the entire learning module. In this research, a learning module for college students was developed, but practical applications are provided not only for college health instructors but also for allied health professionals.