Psychometric evaluation of the short form inventory of drinking situations (IDS-42) in a community-recruited sample of substance-abusing women.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the psychometric properties (factor structure, internal consistency reliability, concurrent validity) of the Short Form Inventory of Drinking Situations (IDS-42) in women substance abusers.


METHODS
A sample of 297 substance-abusing women was recruited from the community. The women completed the IDS-42 and the three-factor Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ).


RESULTS
Confirmatory factor analyses of IDS-42 items suggested a hierarchical structure for the scale. Eight factors (corresponding to Marlatt and Gordon's eight heavy drinking situations) provided the best model fit at the lower-order level, and three factors (i.e., Negatively Reinforcing vs. Positively Reinforcing vs. Temptation Situations) provided the best model fit at the higher-order level. Lower- and higher-order IDS-42 subscales were shown to possess adequate-to-high levels of internal consistency. The eight lower-order IDS-42 factors demonstrated excellent concurrent validity with conceptually similar DMQ subscale scores. Across the entire sample of female substance abusers, a higher frequency of heavy drinking was reported in Positively Reinforcing Situations and Unpleasant Emotions Situations, as compared to other heavy drinking situations.


CONCLUSIONS
Results support the IDS-42's good psychometric properties and demonstrate its utility as a tool in identifying situation-specific antecedents to heavy drinking among women substance abusers.
Stewart
S H
SH
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. sstewart@is.dal.ca
Samoluk
S B
SB
Conrod
P J
PJ
Pihl
R O
RO
Dongier
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation