Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties
Abstract Background For a long period, cannabis in Lebanon was categorized as an illegal psychoactive substance criminalized by law, despite being the 3rd largest producer of cannabis resin after Morocco and Afghanistan. The current available literature on the topic in Lebanon is scarce, as perceive...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Cannabis Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-022-00144-x |
| _version_ | 1811328687107211264 |
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| author | Anthony Mina Clara Rahme Souheil Hallit Michel Soufia |
| author_facet | Anthony Mina Clara Rahme Souheil Hallit Michel Soufia |
| author_sort | Anthony Mina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background For a long period, cannabis in Lebanon was categorized as an illegal psychoactive substance criminalized by law, despite being the 3rd largest producer of cannabis resin after Morocco and Afghanistan. The current available literature on the topic in Lebanon is scarce, as perceived knowledge towards cannabis use in the general population is not well established, and public health policies are absent. In the context of future legalization of cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes, what is the public’s perception of cannabis perceived knowledge about and attitude against cannabis use? The objectives of this study were to create two scales to assess perceived knowledge towards cannabis use and attitude against cannabis use and check their psychometric properties in a sample of Lebanese university students. Methods The study was designed as a cross-sectional study involving 415 Lebanese university students aged between 18 and 30 years. Students were only recruited from one university and were sent an email with a brief description of the study and a link to the questionnaire. The questionnaire items covered perceived knowledge and attitude about cannabis use, recovered and adapted from available literature. Results Perceived knowledge items converged over a solution of four factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1, explaining a total of 64% of the variance (factor 1 = perceived knowledge about cannabis quality of life improvement; factor 2 = perceived knowledge about cannabis psychiatric use; factor 3 = perceived knowledge about cannabis risks; factor 4 = perceived knowledge about cannabis neurological use). Attitude items converged over a solution of two factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1, explaining a total of 58.2% of the variance (factor 1 = negative attitude about cannabis use; factor 2 = positive attitude about cannabis use). Good Cronbach’s alpha values were found for the perceived knowledge and attitude scales (α = 0.78 and α = 0.73 respectively). Greater perceived knowledge was found in male participants and in those who have tried cannabis for recreational purposes. Greater perceived knowledge was also associated with stronger attitude about cannabis use and older age. Furthermore, greater mean attitude about cannabis use scores were significantly found in male participants and in those who have tried cannabis for recreational or medicinal purposes. Conclusion Primary results showed acceptable psychometric properties for the perceived knowledge towards and attitudes about cannabis use scale. Further studies are needed in order to validate them among the general population and assess more psychometric properties of these scales. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:30:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2263bf894e845e39ce46387c6ba1383 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2522-5782 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:30:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cannabis Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2263bf894e845e39ce46387c6ba13832022-12-22T02:41:24ZengBMCJournal of Cannabis Research2522-57822022-07-014111210.1186/s42238-022-00144-xDevelopment of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric propertiesAnthony Mina0Clara Rahme1Souheil Hallit2Michel Soufia3School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of KaslikPsychology Department, College of Humanities, Effat UniversitySchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of KaslikSchool of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of KaslikAbstract Background For a long period, cannabis in Lebanon was categorized as an illegal psychoactive substance criminalized by law, despite being the 3rd largest producer of cannabis resin after Morocco and Afghanistan. The current available literature on the topic in Lebanon is scarce, as perceived knowledge towards cannabis use in the general population is not well established, and public health policies are absent. In the context of future legalization of cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes, what is the public’s perception of cannabis perceived knowledge about and attitude against cannabis use? The objectives of this study were to create two scales to assess perceived knowledge towards cannabis use and attitude against cannabis use and check their psychometric properties in a sample of Lebanese university students. Methods The study was designed as a cross-sectional study involving 415 Lebanese university students aged between 18 and 30 years. Students were only recruited from one university and were sent an email with a brief description of the study and a link to the questionnaire. The questionnaire items covered perceived knowledge and attitude about cannabis use, recovered and adapted from available literature. Results Perceived knowledge items converged over a solution of four factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1, explaining a total of 64% of the variance (factor 1 = perceived knowledge about cannabis quality of life improvement; factor 2 = perceived knowledge about cannabis psychiatric use; factor 3 = perceived knowledge about cannabis risks; factor 4 = perceived knowledge about cannabis neurological use). Attitude items converged over a solution of two factors that had an Eigenvalue over 1, explaining a total of 58.2% of the variance (factor 1 = negative attitude about cannabis use; factor 2 = positive attitude about cannabis use). Good Cronbach’s alpha values were found for the perceived knowledge and attitude scales (α = 0.78 and α = 0.73 respectively). Greater perceived knowledge was found in male participants and in those who have tried cannabis for recreational purposes. Greater perceived knowledge was also associated with stronger attitude about cannabis use and older age. Furthermore, greater mean attitude about cannabis use scores were significantly found in male participants and in those who have tried cannabis for recreational or medicinal purposes. Conclusion Primary results showed acceptable psychometric properties for the perceived knowledge towards and attitudes about cannabis use scale. Further studies are needed in order to validate them among the general population and assess more psychometric properties of these scales.https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-022-00144-xCannabisPerceived knowledgeAttitudeUniversity studentsLebanon |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Mina Clara Rahme Souheil Hallit Michel Soufia Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties Journal of Cannabis Research Cannabis Perceived knowledge Attitude University students Lebanon |
| title | Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties |
| title_full | Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties |
| title_fullStr | Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties |
| title_short | Development of scales to measure Lebanese university students’ perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use: initial psychometric properties |
| title_sort | development of scales to measure lebanese university students perceived knowledge about and attitudes about cannabis use initial psychometric properties |
| topic | Cannabis Perceived knowledge Attitude University students Lebanon |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-022-00144-x |
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