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Confirmatory analyses of three scoring systems for the 90-item Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire
1Alcohol Research Group, Berkeley, California 94709, USA.
Objective:
The Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ) is a widely used instrument in the field of alcohol research, and several different versions and scoring systems for the AEQ are in current use. Two previous confirmatory factor analytic studies failed to provide support for two of the present scoring systems for the AEQ, but these studies' results may have been an artifact due to the methods employed. In this methodological study, three factor structures for the AEQ are tested, based on three different models: (1) the original multidimensional model, (2) a unidimensional model, and (3) a second-order or hierarchical model.
Method:
Data from a previous study provided an effective N of 507 college men and women, who completed a self-administered version of the AEQ.
Results:
Nearly all of the models tested clearly did not fit the data. One model, a three-scale scoring system, may be cautiously viewed as having demonstrated a marginal fit.
Conclusions:
Within the context of the present study's limitations, the validity of current scoring systems for the AEQ is questionable.