Development of a drug and alcohol information survey

Psychological measurement in regard to using drugs, alcohol, or other substances should attend to personological, attitudinal, and informational factors. Standardized tests are available for assessing personological and attitudinal variables, but not for knowledge. To develop a test of information, 45 multiple-choice items were correlated with total and part scores in samples of 132 men and 71 women; 35 items with significant (p less than .05) coefficients and other desirable properties were retained for a Drug and Alcohol Information Survey (DAIS). For 33 male and 36 female college students participating in an intensive psychological assessment program, scores on the DAIS were positively associated with (1) ratings of modernity, sensation seeking, originality, and nonorderliness; (2) personality scales for status propensity, sociability, social presence, and rebelliousness; and (3) a nonverbal test of field-independent cognitive ability. High scorers on the DAIS also reported more frequent use of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco than did students with low scores.