Reliability and validity of a brief measure of sensation seeking

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Abstract

We developed a self-report measure of sensation seeking, a dispositional risk factor for various problem behaviors. In two studies, we administered the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS) to more than 7000 adolescents. Study 1 participants completed a paper-and-pencil form of the BSSS in mass-testing sessions. Psychometric analyses of the resultant data revealed suitable item characteristics and internal consistency of responses to the items across age (13–17 years), sex, and ethnic categories. Study 2 participants, who completed the BSSS individually in an interview format, also provided data on their perceptions of and experiences with licit and illicit drugs as well as a series of additional risk and protective factors. Scores on the full BSSS correlated inversely with negative attitudes toward drug use and positively with drug use; sensation seeking as measured by the BSSS was a particularly strong predictor of the intention to try marijuana in the future. BSSS scores were reliably and predictably associated with other risk and protective factors.

Section snippets

Assessment of sensation seeking

The sensation seeking construct typically is assessed using Form V of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V; Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978), which comprises 40-items in forced-choice format.1 The SSS-V produces an overall score as well as scores on four

Participants

Students at a middle school and a high school were invited to participate in a survey of interests and preferences. From among 1692 students on roll, a total of 1302 students (77%) completed the survey. Data from 23 respondents were excluded because they reported being in the 12th grade (which was not included in the sampling frame), and data from another 14 respondents were excluded because they did not report a grade. Accounting for those unusable responses, a total of 1263 responses

Study 2

We next sought to establish the validity of scores on the new measure. First, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the eight BSSS items to evaluate the structural validity of the measure. Then, because sensation seeking has been established as a risk factor for substance use among adolescents (e.g. Webb, Baer, & McKelvey, 1995), we examined associations of the BSSS with drug-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. In addition, we assessed a variety of additional risk and

General discussion

We evaluated the reliability and validity of the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, a self-report measure of trait sensation seeking suitable for research involving adolescents and young adults. The BSSS has solid psychometric characteristics that hold up across sex, age, and ethnic categories. Moreover, correlations between BSSS scores and drug-related outcomes are robust and apparent for all the major categories of licit and illicit substances. Finally, sensation seeking as measured by the BSSS

Acknowledgements

A portion of the results were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 3, 1996. This research was supported by Grant DA-06892 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Study 2 data were gathered by personnel at the Survey Research Center, University of Kentucky, and the Social Science Research Institute, University of Tennessee.

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