Abstract

SOUSA, Júlia Milhomens de; MARTINS, Vanessa Maria da Silva; HAIDAR, Flávia Costa  and  CARDOSO DE SA, Lucas Guimarães. Brazilian Adaptation of the Urge-Specific Strategies Questionnaire (USSQ): Adaptation and Initial Psychometric Properties for Brazil. Av. Psicol. Latinoam. [online]. 2021, vol.39, n.1, pp.1-18.  Epub Sep 28, 2021. ISSN 1794-4724.  https://doi.org/10.12804/revistas.urosario.edu.co/apl/a.9103.

Coping skills are one of the most important variables of alcohol and drug relapse prevention. The Urge-Specific Strategies Questionnaire (USSQ) is an instrument developed in the USA that aims to evaluate the coping skills repertoire of an individual who is facing craving. As no information about its psychometric properties was found in Brazil, the aim of this study was to adapt the USSQ to the Brazilian context. Participants were 378 addicts in treatment for substance use disorder at Psychosocial Care Centers-Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAPS-AD). Most were men with low education and crack cocaine addicts. The instruments applied were a questionnaire of general characterization, the USSQ, and the Major Depression Inventory. Procedures performed were cross-cultural adaptation and validity and reliability assessments. Results of the content validity indicated that all 20 items adequately represented the theoretical definition and were suitable to assess the immediate coping skills in Brazilian culture. Considering theoretical and psychometric issues, a single-factor internal structure with 12 items was the best choice for the Brazilian version of the USSQ. It showed satisfactory fit indexes, measurement invariance for alcohol and crack cocaine users, and for people in detoxing and abstinence, as well as a significant correlation with external variables such as length of abstinence and depression level. The conclusion of the study is that the Brazilian USSQ has initial psychometric qualities to assess the coping skills repertoire of substance addicts.

Keywords : Coping behavior; alcoholism; crack cocaine; addiction; psychological assessment.

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