Abstract
BACKGROUND: Considering the increasing consumption of soft drinks and their adverse health effects, identifying addiction to these drinks in the population is significant. Accordingly, this study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Soft Drink Addiction Scale. METHODS: For this purpose, we included 669 participants and distributed them homogeneously for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. To assess the psychometric properties of the scale, we used the Soft Drink Addiction Scale, the Beverage Intake Questionnaire-15, and a questionnaire that included questions assessing self-efficacy regarding soft drinks and attitudes toward alternatives. RESULTS: The mean age of 669 participants was 34.05 ± 9.26 years. A total of 93.72% were female and 6.28% were male. The scale's Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.942. An exploratory factor analysis revealed the following three-factor structure: withdrawal syndrome symptoms, persistent desire, and decrease in social and recreational activities, which explained 29.1%, 16%, and 16.9% of the total variance, respectively. A confirmatory factor analysis also confirmed this construct. Moreover, soft drink addiction was associated with self-efficacy and total calories from beverages questioned in the beverage consumption questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the Turkish version of the Soft Drink Addiction Scale is a reliable and valid tool.