Validation of the Arabic version of the smoking cessation motivation questionnaire among Tunisian student smokers

Background: Smoking remains a major public health problem, particularly among Tunisian health students, with a prevalence of 26%. Assessing motivation to quit smoking requires tools that have been validated in the local language. This study aimed to translate and validate the psychometric properties of the Motivation to Quit Smoking Questionnaire (Q-MAT) into Arabic. Method: A cross-sectional methodological study was conducted among 203 smoking health science students in March 2022. The cross-cultural validation process followed Vallerand's seven steps, including translation/back-translation, expert panel review, pre-testing, and psychometric analyses. Reliability was assessed by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and temporal stability (test-retest). Content validity was measured by the CVI index, and construct validity by exploratory factor analysis. Results: The sample included 197 students (mean age: 18.95±1.07 years, sex ratio: 0.89). The Arabic Q-MAT demonstrated excellent reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.840, a test-retest correlation of 0.831, and an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.886. Content validity was satisfactory (CVI = 0.89). Principal component analysis revealed that two factors explained 89.148% of the total variance. Conclusions: This initial validation of the Q-MAT in literary Arabic provides a reliable and valid tool for assessing motivation to quit smoking among Arabic-speaking populations, facilitating the development of targeted public health interventions.