Development and validation of the Stimulant Relapse Risk Scale for drug abusers in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a multidimensional measure of relapse risk for stimulants in Japanese drug abusers.


METHODS
A Stimulant Relapse Risk Scale (SRRS) was developed based on the Marijuana Craving Questionnaire and a discussion among three psychiatrists. We created 48 items after confirming the items including a variety of relapse risk, such as craving (expectancy, compulsivity, etc.) and emotionality problems. One hundred inpatients and outpatients with a history of stimulant abuse (71 males and 29 females) were recruited with informed consent, and were administered the SRRS. The Visual Analogue Scale for drug craving (VAS), Addiction Severity Index for Japanese (ASI-J), and data on relapse within 3 and 6 months after the rating were used for the validation.


RESULTS
Exploratory factor analysis highlighted five factors: anxiety and intention to use drug (AI), emotionality problems (EP), compulsivity for drug use (CD), positive expectancies and lack of control over drug (PL), and lack of negative expectancy for drug use (NE). These accounted for 48.3% of the total variance. Thirty of the 43 items were classified into the five subscales. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for each subscale ranged from .55 to .82, and was .86 for the total SRRS, indicating their adequate internal consistency. AI, CD, PL, and total SRRS were significantly correlated with the drug-use composite score of the ASI-J, supporting their concurrent validity. AI, PL, NE, and total SRRS were significantly correlated with relapse, implying their predictive validity.


CONCLUSIONS
The SRRS has multidimensional psychometric properties useful for assessing the various aspects of stimulant relapse risk.
Ogai
Yasukazu
Y
Division of Psychobiology, Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, 2-1-8 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Haraguchi
Ayako
A
Kondo
Ayumi
A
Ishibashi
Yoko
Y
Umeno
Mitsuru
M
Kikumoto
Hirotsugu
H
Hori
Toru
T
Komiyama
Tokutaro
T
Kato
Riki
R
Aso
Katsuro
K
Asukai
Nozomu
N
Senoo
Eiichi
E
Ikeda
Kazutaka
K
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004644:Emotions; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants