title: Psychometric properties and concurrent validity of the CRAFFT among Norwegian adolescents. Ung@hordaland, a population-based study.
abstract: The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the CRAFFT-questionnaire, and its concurrent validity with self-reported measures of alcohol consumption and illicit drug use ever among Norwegian adolescents. This study employs data from the ung@hordaland survey (N=9680). The concurrent validity of the CRAFFT-questionnaire was examined both as a case-finder with different cut-offs, but also as an ordinal scale. The ordinal scale was constructed by counting the number of affirmative responses from 0 to 6. Current self-reported excessive alcohol consumption, frequent binge drinking and any illicit drug use ever were employed as concurrent validity measures. The internal reliability of CRAFFT was adequate, and there was a linear relationship between CRAFFT-score and excessive alcohol consumption, frequent binge drinking and illicit drug use ever for both genders. Overall, this study shows a good concurrent validity and adequate psychometric properties of the CRAFFT-questionnaire. There results indicate, however, that the use of CRAFFT as a case-finder needs further research, as a suitable cut-point was difficult to determine. The authors conclude that in a clinical setting one positive answer is enough to warrant further investigation, and for research purposes the use of the questionnaire as an ordinal scale or using a cut-point of 2 might be preferable.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol and Drug Research Western Norway, Stavanger University Hospital, Norway. jens.skogen@uni.no
authors.forename: Jens Christoffer
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Skogen
authors.forename: Tormod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bøe
authors.forename: Ann Kristin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hysing
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011594:Psychometrics; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Adolescence; Alcohol problems; CRAFFT; Drug use; Screening; Validation