Description

The Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ) is a measurement tool developed to assess individuals’ motivation to engage and commit to treatment or rehabilitation programs. The TMQ is primarily used in clinical settings—such as addiction treatment, psychological disorders, and other health-related issues—to better understand the factors that influence individuals’ decisions to enter and remain in treatment.

Objective

The main objective of the TMQ is to measure both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for treatment. Specifically, the TMQ aims to:
Assess Intrinsic Motivation: How strong is the individual’s inner desire to change and engage in treatment for personal reasons.
Measure Extrinsic Motivation: The extent to which individuals are influenced by external pressures or rewards to participate in treatment.
Evaluate Defensive Attitudes: How resistant individuals are to the idea of treatment or whether they view it as something imposed by others.
Identify Intentions for Change: The level of commitment individuals have to follow through with treatment and achieve therapeutic goals.

Analysis

The analysis of data collected through the TMQ includes various statistical methods to ensure the tool’s reliability and validity:
Factor Analysis: Used to examine the factor structure of the tool and confirm that the various items group correctly into the motivational subscales.
Reliability: Internal consistency of the TMQ subscales is examined using Cronbach’s alpha.
Validity: Assessed through comparisons with other validated measures of motivation and treatment commitment to ensure the tool accurately measures levels of motivation.

Scoring

Scoring the TMQ involves the following steps:
Data Collection from Diverse Samples: Data is gathered from various participant groups involved in different treatment programs to ensure the generalizability of the results.
Distribution Analysis: Score distributions are examined to determine whether they are normally distributed and representative of individuals’ motivation levels.
Norm Development: Normative values and percentiles are established to help interpret results, enabling comparison of motivation levels across different populations and contexts.

References

Ryan, R. M., Plant, R. W., & O’Malley, S. (1995). Initial motivations for alcohol treatment: Relations with patient characteristics, treatment involvement, and dropout. Addictive Behaviors, 20(3), 279–297.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum Press.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2002). Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People for Change. New York: Guilford Press.