Use of a brief smoking consequences questionnaire for adults (SCQ-A) in African American smokers

Purposes of the present study were to (a) examine psychometric properties of a brief Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult (SCQ-A; A. L. Copeland, T. H. Brandon, & E. P. Quinn, 1995) among an African American sample and (b) explore differences in smoking expectancies across levels of smoking-nicotine dependence. Four hundred eighty-four smokers attending an urban health clinic completed the brief SCQ-A. Maximum likelihood factor extraction with a varimax rotation specifying 9 factors replicated 9 factors of the original SCQ-A. Evidence for the brief SCQ-A's reliability and validity was found. Heavier and/or more dependent smokers had significantly higher scores than lighter and/or less dependent smokers on positive expectancies SCQ-A subscales. Results suggest the brief SCQ-A may be a useful alternative to the full scale SCQ-A. Results also provide evidence for the SCQ-A's validity with African American smokers.