Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and factor structure of the Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES), version 8, a 19-item self-reported instrument developed to measure readiness to change in alcohol-dependent alcoholics.
Methods: A Confirmatory Factor analysis of the SOCRATES was performed based on the factor structures previously demonstrated by Miller & Tonigan and Maisto et al. in a sample with 326 alcohol-dependent outpatients. The questionnaire was translated into Portuguese, cross-culturally adapted and back-translated into English. During this process SOCRATES underwent some modifications to simplify some complex question formats.
Results: The analysis showed that two correlated factors provided the best fit for the data and that these were similar to Maisto et al.'s factors.
Conclusions: There was less evidence to support a three-factor structure. The results are compared to previous studies and the reasons for discrepancies are discussed.