NCJ Number
219408
Journal
Substance Abuse Volume: 27 Issue: 1/2 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 33-45
Date Published
June 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored the feasibility of developing a more refined measure of alcohol consumption, one that combines several questions designed to capture different aspects of problem drinking.
Abstract
A composite drinking scale appears to be a viable measure of college student drinking with several scientific advantages over the heavy (“binge”) drinking measure used in many studies. A Composite Drinking Scale (CDS) combines four alcohol consumption measures, each of which can capture a different aspect of problem drinking: (1) number of occasions on which alcohol was used in the past 30 days, (2) average number of drinks consumed in a week, (3) number of drinks consumed when partying, and (4) the greatest number of drinks consumed at one sitting during the last 2 weeks. Based on a large sample of students attending 4-year colleges and universities in the United States, the CDS was found to have high internal consistency reliability and good construct validity. Several advantages were found to the CDS over other measures. Developing measures of alcohol consumption that both capture the phenomenon of problem drinking and allow easy communication with the public is an enormous challenge. This study explored the feasibility of a CDS designed to capture fully the phenomenon of problem drinking among college students while allowing easy public understanding. A survey conducted at 32 4-year United States colleges included 4 consumption measures: 30-day frequency; average number of drinks per week; number of drinks usually consumed when partying; and greatest number of drinks in 1 sitting in the past 2 weeks. Tables, references