Nurses' attitudes towards alcoholism: factor analysis of three commonly used scales

INTRODUCTIONTwo fields of study are revealed through reviewing the literature 1-3 that attempts to understand attitudes and beliefs surrounding psychoactive substance use and addiction. The first involves the identification of attitudes, points of view and perceptions among healthcare professionals in relation to this problem. The second investigates the reasons that lead to a lack of awareness or understanding among these professionals regarding substance use.Nurses are one of the largest groups of healthcare professionals sharing in patient care responsibilities in general, including caring for those who use and abuse psychoactive substances. They may encounter users in various sectors of the healthcare system. It can therefore be assumed that nurses should be able to assess their own attitudes relating to alcoholism, so that they can care for patients without making value judgements, as demonstrated in studies 1-3 presented previously. There is evidence that negative attitudes exist among nurses in relation to patients who are psychoactive substance users. Recognition of inappropriate attitudes and reflection on behavior constitutes the beginning of a process to modify the nurse's behavior. The process of evaluating attitudes includes recognition of the origin of such attitudes, investigation of how these affect the care given to patients and seeking of knowledge through formal education. This latter provides a scientific basis and can be influential in changes. It is essential to evaluate beliefs and values that affect the care given to others. Thus, the inclusion of conscious evaluation is fundamental for the professional nurse. However, little is known about the attitudes (thoughts, feelings and behavior) of nurses in relation to patients who are drug or alcohol users. In addition to the lack of formal research, there has been very little training (continued education), or even formal education on this theme included in undergraduate nursing courses. Nevertheless, this information is considered indispensable in preparing nurses to offer qualified care for this population.The limited educational background of nurses contributes greatly to the formation of attitudes and value judgements. This fact is reflected in surveys. 4 These show that, when dealing with patients who are alcohol users, nurses' attitudes and beliefs are significantly more negative and permeated with moral content than when dealing with other patients. 4 Neglect in identification and early intervention may aggravate alcohol users' problems and may render their prognosis more serious, to the point of the condition becoming chronic. 4The need for teaching about alcohol use in nursing coursesAlthough health organizations officially recognized alcoholism as a disease in the 1950's, it was much later that this was accepted by the population in general. Many nurses and other professionals have been reluctant to care for such patients. Specifically, there has been reluctance to acknowledge problems related to alcohol use and abuse and th...

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“…This study was the continuation of an investigation done as part of a master's degree dissertation, which began in 1998. 7 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formal education and nurses' attitudes towards alcohol and alcoholism in a Brazilian sample

Pillon

Laranjeira

2005

Sao Paulo Med. J.

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“…For data collection, most Brazilian studies (5,(12)(13) used scales constructed in other cultures and languages, translated for application in the country. According to the authors who used these instruments (12)(13) , they entail limitations, such as the fact that their full version was never published, there are few studies of their psychometric properties (12) and no cross-cultural research about them is available with a view to their application in Brazil (14) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Versão reduzida da escala de atitudes frente ao álcool, alcoolismo e ao alcoolista: resultados preliminares

Vargas

2011

Rev. esc. enferm. USP

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Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar os itens da Escala de Atitudes frente ao Álcool, ao Alcoolismo e ao Alcoolista, a fim de elaborar uma versão reduzida, mantendo as propriedades psicométricas do instrumento. Em sua versão preliminar, a escala foi constituída por 165 itens, sendo aplicada a uma amostra de 144 estudantes de enfermagem. O processo de avaliação dos itens deu-se pela análise da correlação do item total e a confiabilidade do instrumento foi estimada pelo coeficiente alfa de Crombach. Os resultados obtidos indicaram a permanência de 83 itens, divididos em cinco fatores que apresentaram valores satisfatórios nos diferentes coeficientes de consistência interna. Concluiu-se que o resultado do estudo abre perspectivas para novas pesquisas, com a necessidade de ampliação da amostra com vistas a dar continuidade ao processo de validação da Escala de Atitudes frente ao Álcool, ao Alcoolismo e ao Alcoolista entre profissionais da saúde.

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“…Although the attitudes of nurses towards alcohol have been studied in the United States and in some European countries for nearly five decades (4) , there are few studies about the attitudes of nurses towards alcohol, alcoholism and the alcoholics in Brazil. Of these, some (5) aimed at evaluating the most usual instruments for the measurement of nursing attitudes towards the theme.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Translated and validated in the country (5) , it is a scale consisting of 30 items, distributed in five factors, which cover, among other aspects, the perceptions of the alcoholics and their attitudes towards drinking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, negative attitudes were predominant in nurses regarding working with this clientele (6)(7)9) . When the authors (5)(6) evaluated the use of this scale, they noted some limitations. Among them, never having been published integrally; few existing studies about its psychometric properties (5) and the inexistence of satisfactory studies on its cross-cultural adaptation for application in Brazil (10) , which makes it unsatisfactory for usage in the country -the main justification for the construction of a new attitude scale (11) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and validation of a scale of attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics

Vargas

Luis

2008

Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem

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The others (6)(7) aimed to evaluate the attitudes of these professionals towards alcohol and the alcoholics.The most usual instrument in Brazil to measure the nurses' attitudes is Seaman Mannello Nurses's Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Alcoholism Scale (8) .Translated and validated in the country (5) , it is a scale consisting of 30 items, distributed in five factors, which cover, among other aspects, the perceptions of the alcoholics and their attitudes towards drinking.A brief analysis of the results obtained with the application of Seaman Mannello in the Brazilian studies (6-7) revealed, among other aspects, that nurses conceived alcoholism as a disease, and that alcoholics were ill people, revealing positive attitudes. However, negative attitudes were predominant in nurses regarding working with this clientele (6)(7)9) . When the authors (5-6) evaluated the use of this scale, they noted some limitations. Among them, never having been published integrally; few existing studies about its psychometric properties (5) and the inexistence of satisfactory studies on its cross-cultural adaptation for application in Brazil (10) , which makes it unsatisfactory for usage in the country -the main justification for the construction of a new attitude scale (11) .The classical theories about attitudes (12) define this construct as predispositions. In order to respond to a given set of stimuli with a given set of answers, an attitude can thus be defined as an acquired and lasting predisposition to always act the same way towards a given class of objects, or a persistent mental/neural state of readiness to respond to a given class of objects, not as they are, but as they are conceived (12) .Observing the lack of instruments to evaluate

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Nurses' attitudes towards alcoholism: factor analysis of three commonly used scales

Abstract: The results of this comparative analysis could be used as a basis for developing a new scale covering all the important attitudinal groups identified by this study.

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Formal education and nurses' attitudes towards alcohol and alcoholism in a Brazilian sample

Formal education and nurses' attitudes towards alcohol and alcoholism in a Brazilian sample

Versão reduzida da escala de atitudes frente ao álcool, alcoolismo e ao alcoolista: resultados preliminares

Development and validation of a scale of attitudes towards alcohol, alcoholism and alcoholics

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