A brief young adult alcohol problems screening test: Short form development using combinatorics.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• The Young Adult Alcohol Problems Screening Test (YAAPST) is a 27-item measure for assessing alcohol use disorder.
• Developing shorter, reliable screening tools is crucial for reducing participant burden and improving adherence.
• College freshmen represent a key demographic for early intervention regarding alcohol use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a shortened, psychometrically sound version of the YAAPST.
• To identify the optimal number of items for a brief alcohol screening tool for young adults.
• To validate the shortened scale against established diagnostic criteria.

Main Methods:

• An exhaustive combinatorial approach was used to evaluate all possible question combinations and lengths.
• The candidate short-forms were assessed for reliability using Cronbach's alpha and part-whole correlations.
• Validity was examined using polyserial correlations with DSM-III criteria for alcohol use disorder.

Main Results:

• A 12-item scale, termed the Brief-YAAPST, emerged as the optimal short-form.
• The Brief-YAAPST demonstrated strong reliability and validity, comparable to the original 27-item YAAPST.
• This 12-item scale achieved the best balance between brevity and psychometric integrity.

Conclusions:

• Complete enumeration optimization successfully yielded the Brief-YAAPST, a 12-item alcohol screening tool.
• The Brief-YAAPST offers a desirable alternative for assessing alcohol problems with minimal loss of reliability and validity.
• This brief screening measure is suitable for settings where participant burden is a concern.