The factor structure of the Arabic version of the Self-Administered Nicotine-Dependence Scale

An empirical survey was undertaken to investigate the factor structure of the Arabic version of the Self-Administered Nicotine-Dependence Scale (SANDS), on a sample of 338 Kuwait University undergraduate students (males 173 and females 165). Two factors were obtained by principal axis factor analysis from the Arabic SANDS. These were termed Personal and Social Skills Deficit, and Personal and Social Attitudes Support for smoking. It was concluded that these factors were interpretable with an adequate internal consistency, ranging from .70 to .77, with a gender difference observed in the two factors, with females sharing a higher mean factor score than males. Based on these findings, the Arabic SANDS can be recommended for use among Arab college students.