Confirmatory factor analysis of the Reasons for Smoking Scale in alcoholics.

The Reasons for Smoking Scale (RSS), a self-assessment tool for identifying smokers' motives, has been in use for over 30 years. Previous factor validity studies, which relied exclusively on exploratory factoring procedures, have consistently extracted six scales from the RSS. In the present study, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the RSS in a mixed-gender sample of 189 treatment-seeking alcoholics. The objective was to validate the six-factor model of the instrument in a clinical sample of highly nicotine-dependent smokers. Results indicated strong support for the hypothesized six-factor solution. Internal consistency and convergent validity of the factors also were found to be good. The RSS appears to be an internally valid instrument for assessing smoking motives in alcoholics.