Examining the factor structure of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) in emerging adults: An exploratory...

The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) measures traits linked to heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems (i.e., hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, and sensation seeking) and is used to match people to personality-specific interventions. There is inconsistency in the SURPS' factor structure; evidence suggests confirmatory factor analysis may be too restrictive for measures capturing correlated constructs like the SURPS. We examined whether exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) is better than confirmatory factor analysis for understanding the optimal factor structure of the SURPS in emerging adults. We tested the ESEM model for invariance across sex and alcohol use groups and evaluated the validity of SURPS subscales for identifying risky drinking motives and alcohol-related problems. Emerging adults (N = 6,397, 18-25 years, M [±SD] = 19.22 [1.49]) from five Canadian universities provided survey data. Relative to an ill-fitting confirmatory factor analysis, ESEM showed excellent fit. The SURPS ESEM provided evidence supporting equal measurement across sex and alcohol use groups. Concurrent associations included hopelessness with enhancement, anxiety-coping, depression-coping, and conformity motives; anxiety sensitivity with anxiety-coping, depression-coping, conformity motives, and alcohol-related problems; impulsivity with all motives and problems; and sensation seeking with enhancement, social, depression-coping, expansion motives, and related problems. Results support the SURPS as a structurally valid measure of personality vulnerability for risky drinking motives and alcohol-related problems and provide evidence for ESEM approaches when analyzing measures containing correlated constructs. The concurrent associations between SURPS subscales and risky drinking motives and alcohol-related problems in emerging adults support their utility for identifying those who may benefit from targeted interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).