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Methods: Data were collected from individuals (n=200) in years 2015-2018. Surveys were administered face-to-face by trained interviews during participants’ intake at clinic locations. The measure of empowerment, referred to as the Recovery Empowerment Scale (RES), was comprised of 20 items designed to capture four dimensions of empowerment (i.e. emotional, cogitative, behavioral, and relational) for both women and men in recovery from substance abuse. All items were answered by respondents using a seven point Likert-type scale ranging from “almost never” to “almost always,” with higher score reflecting higher levels of the construct. We also measured three additional variables (i.e., quality of life, self-rated health, and depression) using existing, validated scales to examine the relationships between empowerment dimensions and constructs hypothesized to be associated with them. Scores of the RES were analyzed using an exploratory factor analytic approach.
Results: Factor analysis results supported the hypothesized four-factor structure of the scale. Bartlett’s test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy indicated that principal axis factor analysis was appropriate for our data. Oblimin-rotated pattern loadings in each of the four factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 indicated that the items loaded uniquely on their hypothesized factor. Scale reliabilities ranged from .76 to .96. Empowerment dimensions were found to be associated with quality of life, self-reported health, and depression in expected ways.
Implications/Conclusion: Findings supported the validity of the RES. The scale may be useful to researchers and practitioners working with people in recovery from substance abuse.