title: Latent variable models of alcohol-related constructs.
abstract: This study examines the improvement in validity coefficients and structural relationships derived from formally modeling latent variables of adverse alcohol-related constructs. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis of responses from 8,755 participants in the 1988 National Household Survey of Drug Abuse support a three-factor model of alcohol abuse, dependence, and adverse consequences. A comparison of construct intercorrelations shows latent variables to be superior to measurement approaches using unweighted sums, quantity x frequency calculation, and single-item measurement.
authors.affiliation: Applied Psychometrics Laboratory, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Lennox
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Zarkin
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results