A comparison of two latent variable causal models for adolescent drug use.

Compared the competing simplex (involvement) and common factor models for youthful drug use using causal modeling with latent variables methods with 1,634 students in Grades 7–9. Latent variables of alcohol, marihuana, and other illicit drug use were confirmed and causally interconnected in a set of states. The confirmatory factor and the simplex stage models were found to be acceptable representations of the observed data according to both statistical and psychometric criteria. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of emerging life-styles including drug use, methodology, and policy about psychoactive substances. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' influence on the drug use of their children: Confirmatory tests of direct modeling and mediational theories.

Using confirmatory methods, a direct modeling theory was contrasted with a cognitive mediational position in regard to the influence of mothers on their children's use of alcohol, marihuana, and pills. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their personality and drug use, and their daughters (n?=?481) and sons (n?=?244) independently responded to self-report questionnaires measuring their own drug use and perceived adult drug use. Data support a cognitive mediational linkage between mother and child for alcohol and pill use. A direct modeling explanation seemed to account most accurately for marihuana use. In all analyses, sex of the child was retained as an independent variable, and for all substances there was no differential effect by sex. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehensive effects of alcohol: Development and psychometric assessment of a new expectancy questionnaire.

A comprehensive measure of alcohol outcome expectancies was developed through the use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The questionnaire assesses both positive and negative expected effects of alcohol as well as the subjective evaluation of those effects. The measure was found to demonstrate adequate internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity. Criterion validity was demonstrated through structural regression analyses of the independent and combined influences of outcome expectancies and subjective evaluation on 3 measures of alcohol use. Information on Ss' dose-related expectancies provided further validation of the expectancy construct and yielded information about the effects people associate with drinking different amounts of alcohol. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct validity of the dependence syndrome as measured by DSM-IV for different psychoactive substances

The Diagnosis of Drug Dependence in the Official Psychiatric Nomenclatures (DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and ICD 10) are based on the Drug Dependence Syndrome construct. Although the validity and utility of the dependence syndrome has been widely documented for alcohol, the generalizability of the dependence syndrome to other psychoactive substances is still not clear. Thus, this article examines the construct validity of the drug dependence syndrome, as measured by diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV, using both internal consistency analyses and confirmatory factor analyses. Data were obtained from non-mutually exclusive groups of abusers for five drugs (alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, opioids, sedatives, stimulants) drawn from a pool of 521 subjects obtained from drug treatment, general psychiatric and community samples. As predicted by the theory, drug dependence items were found to be unidimensional and factorially distinct from measures of the consequences of substance abuse (e.g. legal problems) for all drug groups. Moreover, the drug dependence items yielded internally consistent scales that produced a distribution of scores reflecting a continuum from low to high severity of abuse for all drugs.     

Self-monitoring and sex as moderator variables in the statistical explanation of self-reported marijuana and alcohol use.

Examined self-monitoring (SM) and sex as moderators of predictors of self-reported use of marihuana and alcohol. SM theory implies that in comparisons between Ss high and low in SM, dispositional predictors account for more of the variance in reported use among low self-monitors and environmental predictors account for more of the variance among high self-monitors. With the 2 classes of predictors established via principal-components analysis and with subgroups defined by scores on Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale, data from 807 college students showed that SM did not affect the action of either dispositional or environmental predictors. Thus, the SM construct promises explanatory leverage that in these tests the scale is not able to deliver. When subgroups were defined by sex, analyses of reported alcohol use yielded small but significant moderator effects: Women's use was more predictable from environmental variables, whereas men's use was more predictable from dispositional variables. These effects are consistent with the conclusions of recent meta-analyses of sex differences in conformity to group pressures. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric Evaluation of the Parent Situation Inventory: A Role-Play Measure of Coping in Parents of Substance-Using Adolescents.

This article reports on the generalizability, reliability, and construct validity of the Parent Situation Inventory (PSI), a role-play measure of coping skills in parents experiencing problems from an adolescent's drug and alcohol use. Generalizability was robust (.80) and alternate form and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. PSI skillfulness was negatively related to the parent's own substance use and to the adolescent's alcohol use. The PSI shows promise as a reliable and potentially valid measure of coping in this population and has direct implications for developing and evaluating skill-based parent training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New scales to assess change in the Addiction Severity Index for the opioid, cocaine, and alcohol dependent.

Analyses were performed to construct and confirm the validity of new conjoint intake and 6-month follow-up scales for the Addiction Severity Index (A. T. McLellan, L. Luborsky, G. E. Woody, & C. P. O'Brien, 1980) applied to a diverse sample of substance dependence patients (N?=?1,008). A multistage scaling strategy identified 5 psychometrically integral addiction problem scales. Exploratory item and factor analyses, confirmatory oblique item clustering, and variance partitioning verified that the scales comprised relatively little common variance and that each retained a substantial amount of unique and reliable variance. Resulting scales (Psychiatric, Drug, Alcohol, Family, and Legal Problems, respectively) were highly internally consistent and structurally stable overall, at intake and follow-up and across gender, age, ethnicity, and substance abuse categories. Concurrent and predictive validity over 2 years were supported for clinical subsamples based on comorbid psychopathology and mood, HIV risk behaviors, personality indices, urine toxicology, and criminal records. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stability and validity of early adolescents' reports of parenting constructs.

The stability and validity of early adolescents' reports of 6 parenting constructs were examined: parent–child conflict, positive family relations, parental monitoring, parents' rule making, consistent enforcement of rules, and use of positive reinforcement. Hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; H. W. Marsh & D. Hocevar, 1988) on questionnaire data from 3 quarterly assessments of 174 5th–7th grade youth was used to test a multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) model containing 6 parenting constructs as trait factors and 3 assessment occasions as method factors. Youths' reports of these parenting constructs were stable over time, and the CFA approach to MTMM data demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs. Each parenting construct was significantly correlated with youths' reports of deviant peer associations, antisocial behavior, and substance use, providing evidence of criterion validity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multidimensionality of oral health in dentate adults

OBJECTIVES: An understanding of the validity and usefulness of self-reported measures (as distinct from clinically determined measures) of oral health is emerging. These self-reported measures include self-rated oral health (SROH). Three objectives were to: (1) describe self-rated oral health in dentate adults, (2) quantify associations between self-rated oral health and other measures of oral health (oral disease and tissue damage, pain and discomfort, functional limitation, and disadvantage), and (3) assess the construct validity of a model of oral health proposed herein. METHODS: The Florida Dental Care Study is a longitudinal study of oral health, which included at baseline 873 subjects who had at least one tooth, were 45 years or older, and who participated for an interview and clinical examination. RESULTS: The prevalence of self-rated oral health decrements was substantial; approximately one fourth of subjects reported their oral health as only fair or poor. Bivariate and multivariate results provided consistent evidence of the construct validity of the proposed model of oral health. Additionally, the salience of one measure of dental appearance suggests that persons may use esthetic cues when rating their oral health. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed multidimensional model of oral health has construct validity. Self-rated oral health is affected by oral disease and tissue damage, oral pain and discomfort, oral functional limitation, and oral disadvantage. These self-reported measures and the proposed model should provide useful information for dental care effectiveness research. General health status has been disaggregated into the "physical" and the "mental;" an additional separation into the "oral" aspects of health seems warranted.     

Organization of needs in male and female drug and alcohol users.

Administered the Personality Research Form (PRF) to 1,095 college students divided into groups of nonusers of drugs and alcohol, users of alcohol only, users of marihuana, and users of a variety of drugs in addition to marihuana. The PRF was factored for each of the groups, with 6 factors extracted in each analysis. Subgroup factor-pattern matrices were aligned to a common position, and the stability of the factorial solution across groups was assessed. All the factors were stable. The total sample was also divided into 4 groups based on the year of testing and the sex of the student. A 6-factor solution was calculated for each group, and factor stability across analyses was examined. The factor pattern matrices for male and female samples were quite similar. Moreover, the pattern of correlations among the primary factors found in each analysis was stable across subgroups. Results suggest that the organization of motivational tendencies in college students is the same for both sexes and for different types of substance users. The relationship of the factors to several other personality research variables is discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The DSM-IV construct of cocaine dependence in a treatment sample of Black, Mexican American, and White men.

The unidimensionality of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-lV) construct of cocaine dependence was examined among 263 Black, 212 Mexican American, and 256 White men admitted consecutively to 5 substance abuse treatment programs in the Bay Area of northern California. Interviews of about 1 hr were conducted in the programs' facilities by trained interviewers who used a standardized questionnaire. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) generally supported a unidimensional model of the 7 indicators of DSM-IV cocaine dependence across the men in all 3 ethnic groups. The results of the CFA, latent trait analysis, and latent class analysis suggested that the indicator representing health problems from cocaine use may not be as useful as the other criteria for identifying cocaine dependence. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress, family environment, and multiple substance use among seventh graders.

Evaluated the Guttman-scaled nicotine, alcohol, cannabis (marihuana), and multiple substance use in relation to measures of major life stressors, daily hassles, family cohesion, conflict and expressiveness, coping, and anxiety among 425 7th graders. Instruments included the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Major life stressors, family cohesion, and the subjective distress of daily hassles contributed significantly in stepwise regression analyses for nicotine, cannabis, and multiple substance use. For alcohol use, major life stressors and family conflict were significant. In the case of cannabis and multiple substance use, a moderating interaction of family cohesion and life stress was obtained. Identified as multiple substance users reported high rates of occurrence of a number of life stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specification of the criterion construct space: An application of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis.

Used hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis to test alternative latent structures underlying performance in multiple dimensions as measured by work samples and 3 rating sources. The model receiving strongest support was one that specified multidimensional trait (performance dimension) and measurement method second-order factors (SOFs). This model exhibited significant convergent and discriminant validity, showed significant measurement method effects, and indicated that different measurement methods assess somewhat different aspects of the total criterion construct space. Significant correlations between measurement method SOFs and performance predictors suggest the need to reconsider the interpretation of method factors, not as bias, but as possibly representing different overall perspectives on performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the OCDS-Revised: A Measure of Alcohol and Drug Urges With Outpatient Substance Abuse Clients.

Urges to use substances is an important construct in understanding the maintenance of substance use as well as relapse. There is a need to evaluate single instruments measuring global urges to use substances (including alcohol). The Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS; R. F. Anton, D. H. Moak, & P. Latham, 1995) was revised and tested as a single measure of urges to use substances. Participants were 252 adults entering outpatient substance abuse treatment. Results suggest that the revised scale (OCDS-R) primarily assesses 1 global factor for urges to use substances. In addition, strong support was found for the reliability and concurrent validity of the OCDS-R, although results for its predictive validity were mixed. The OCDS-R is a brief, psychometrically sound self-report instrument that has applicability within clinical and research settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multitrait (ADHD–IN, ADHD–HI, ODD toward adults, academic and social competence) by multisource (mothers and fathers) evaluation of the invariance and convergent/discriminant validity of the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory with Thai adolescents.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used with a multitrait (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder—inattention, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder—hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional defiant disorder toward adults, academic competence, and social competence) by multisource (mothers and fathers) matrix to test the invariance and convergent/discriminant validity of the 5-factor model between mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of Thai adolescents (Year 1: n = 872; Year 2: n = 903; Year 3: n = 700; Year 4: n = 984) with the Child and Adolescent Disruptive Behavior Inventory (G. L. Burns, T. Taylor, & J. Rusby, 2001). The results showed equality of like-item loadings, intercepts, and residuals, as well as like-factor variances, covariances, and means between mothers’ and fathers’ ratings within each of the 4 yearly samples. In addition, the between-parent factor correlations showed convergent and discriminant validity with the within-parent factor correlations, showing discriminant validity for each year as well. These results for Thai adolescents and similar results (G. L. Burns et al., 2008) for mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of Brazilian, Thai, and American children provide broader support for the construct validity of the scale. The confirmatory factor analysis invariance and convergent/discriminant validity procedure with multiple sources is considered to provide a much more sophisticated procedure to evaluate the construct validity of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder rating scales than a single-source approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A short form of the WISC--III for clinical use.

Using specific theoretical and practical criteria, 8 subtests were selected from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Third Edition (WISC--III; D. Wechsler, 1991) to construct a short form that would allow computation of all 4 factor index scores. Linear scaling was used to compute deviation quotients of the short form, and confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine which of 6 hypothesized models could best explain intelligence as measured by this WISC--III short form. The results indicated that the short form had satisfactory reliability and validity and that a 4-factor model (composed of Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed) fit the data of this short form relatively best. Specific guidelines for use of this short form in clinical practice are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The neuropsychological test performance of drug-abusing patients: An examination of latent cognitive abilities and associated risk factors.

The purpose of this study was to examine the latent structure of neuropsychological abilities of drug-abusing patients. Four factors were identified in an exploratory factor analysis (N = 329) and a subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (N = 258): Executive Functioning, Verbal Ability, Memory, and Speed. Education, years of regular alcohol use, number of substance use dependence disorders, percentage of days of heavy drinking in the previous year, depression, familial alcoholism, premorbid level of cognitive functioning, liver functioning, and previous head injuries were identified as risk factors to these latent abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further assessments of Meyer and Allen's (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment.

Assessed the construct validity of J. P. Meyer and N. J. Allen's (1991) 3-component model of organizational commitment. Despite the large error components associated with some of the items from Meyer and Allen's scales, the existence of 3 facets of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative) was generally supported by a confirmatory factor analysis of data from 2,301 nurses. Moreover, some of the expected differential relationships of these facets to antecedents and outcomes of commitment were observed in both the nurse sample and a sample comprising 80 bus operators. However, the facets generally did not relate strongly or differentially to a set of rating and nonrating measures of job performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multidimensional measurement of attitude towards smoking marijuana.

Conducted 3 studies with a total of 655 undergraduates to explore the dimensionality of the "attitude toward smoking marihuana" construct using hierarchical factor analyses. Measurement instruments were developed with internal item analysis following 2 different tracks. One was based on the traditional Likert procedure for each of 20 dimensions, while the other used a criterion-oriented approach. The resulting subscales were validated against 2 external criteria. (French summary) (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns and correlates of initial and subsequent drug use among adolescents.

Studied survey data collected in 1978–1981 examining prior and current drug use in 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in Maryland public schools. A 6-variable model (legal drugs, cannabis, pills, psychedelics, cocaine, and heroin) was used to examine the sequential and cumulative nature of drug use in a sample of 2,036 students drawn from a total sample of 34,479 males and females. Guttman scaling, using current use data for both the original and a cross-validational sample, found a stable, sequential, and cumulative hierarchy of drug use in all grades. Regression analysis of psychosocial variables found that age at first use; frequency of use of marihuana, alcohol, and cigarettes; and amount of available spending money emerged as significant predictors of use, but with little difference in predictors between the 6 drug categories. For individuals who go on to hard drug use, the data indicate that initiation into the sequence begins with a legal substance such as alcohol or tobacco and proceeds through use of marihuana. The relationship between prevalence, as well as intensity of drug use, and several psychosocial variables (e.g., academic goals, grades, spending money) emphasizes the need for further causal modeling. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)