Self-administered nicotine-dependence scale (SANDS): Item selection, reliability estimation, and initial validation

The Self‐Administered Nicotine‐Dependence Scale (SANDS) is a questionnaire to assist in the determination of the most appropriate intervention for the nicotine‐dependent individual. Six content domains included are: (1) self‐efficacy; (2) social skills deficit; (3) loss of control; (4) consequences of use; (5) social support for smoking; and (6) concern for healthy life‐style. A preliminary set of 79 items was reduced to a 32‐item scale, which, in turn, was divided into two non‐overlapping subscales of 16 items each. Logistic regression analyses of an additional sample of subjects indicated that the SANDS added predictive power to knowledge of sex and transdermal‐patch status for predictions of smoking status 6 months later.