Year: 2025 | Month: December | Volume: 12 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 316-322
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20251236
The Terminal Uniqueness Scale: Psychometric Validation and Factorial Structure in Addiction Recovery
Shivani Rani1, Dr Balbinder Singh2
1Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,
2Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,
Corresponding Author: Dr Balbinder Singh
ABSTRACT
Terminal uniqueness, the belief that one's issues are fundamentally different from those of others, has been identified for a long time as an obstacle to participating in treatment for addiction recovery. Even though it is clinically important, there has been a lack of empirical measurement of this concept. This study created and verified the Terminal Uniqueness Scale (TUS), which is a binary measure that evaluates cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, and physical aspects of resistance based on a sense of uniqueness. Data from 202 treatment-seeking adults in Punjab, India, were analysed using tetrachoric Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). A three-factor, 24-item structure emerged, accounting for 61.7% of the total variance. The factors—Cognitive Resistance and Self-Exception, Interpersonal Detachment and Isolation, and Affective-Somatic Dysregulation—demonstrated strong internal consistency (KR-20 = .88; α = .76–.84). The findings reinforce the idea that terminal uniqueness acts as a complex defense mechanism that hinders participation in recovery efforts. The validated TUS provides clinicians with a dependable and theoretically sound instrument for evaluating resistance linked to a sense of uniqueness in addiction treatment.
Keywords: terminal uniqueness, addiction recovery, psychometrics, defensiveness, tetrachoric EFA, cognitive resistance
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