Initial psychometric testing of the harm reduction self-efficacy scale

Abstract

Abstinence self-efficacy, belief in one’s ability to abstain, has been identified as a predictor of substance use behavior change. Yet, many people who use substances do not want to abstain. Self-efficacy for achieving a range of goals (i.e. abstinence or harm reduction) would be more widely applicable and might also predict substance use behavior change. The current study reports on the development of the Harm Reduction Self-Efficacy Scale (HRSES), adapted from the Situational Confidence Questionnaire and other measures of behavioral regulation, to assess one’s self-efficacy to limit their substance use consistent with their own substance use goals. Participants were recruited from online support groups for individuals with varied personal goals for substance use. The current primary analyses included 226 individuals who completed the HRSES. Using exploratory factor analysis, we found support for a four-factor solution reflecting self-efficacy in different situations that might promote substance use: negative emotions and situations, positive social situations, low self-regulation, and pleasant emotions. Each subscale was generally negatively correlated with substance use and positively correlated with quality of life, indicating greater self-efficacy was associated with less substance use and greater quality of life. Additional work is needed to test the psychometric properties of the HRSES, particularly confirmation of the factor structure in larger and more racially and ethnically diverse samples. The HRSES has promising psychometric properties and high clinical utility with wider applicability to a range of substance use goals.

Keywords:

• Harm reduction
• self-efficacy
• moderation
• abstinence
• substance use

Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of record. All participants provided electronic informed consent.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. Verlin Joseph for reviewing an early version of the HRSES.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 Sitharthan and Kavanagh (1991) refer to the measure as both the Self-Efficacy for Drinking Control Scale and the Problem Drinking Self-Efficacy Scale.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA) under Grants (T32AA018108, PI: Witkiewitz; K01AA030789, PI: Richards); and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under Grant (RM1DA055301-01S1, PI: Schwebel). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAAA, NIDA, or National Institute of Health.