OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure and estimated severity of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) symptoms in a sample of treatment-seeking psychiatric outpatients. METHOD: Participants (n = 1,027; 51.2% women) met the screening criteria for the lifetime assessment of AUDs according to the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-I/P; First et al., 1995) and as a result completed an assessment of alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms. The average (SD) age of the sample was 36.6 (11.4) years, and 71% of participants met lifetime DSM-IV criteria for an AUD. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis of the tetrachoric correlation matrix of alcohol abuse and dependence criteria revealed that a single factor best accounted for the data in this sample. Results of Rasch model analyses indicated that the severity ordering of the DSM-IV abuse and dependence symptoms was not consistent with the hierarchical structure suggested by the DSM-IV. Instead, abuse items were found to be spread across a full range of the AUD continuum and were not consistently in the lower ranges of severity. CONCLUSIONS: This study extends the literature by examining a treatment-seeking psychiatric outpatient sample and using a semistructured diagnostic interview administered by mental health professionals. Methodological considerations and implications for the conceptualization of AUD are discussed.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure and estimated severity of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) symptoms in a sample of treatment-seeking psychiatric outpatients. METHOD:Participants (n = 1,027; 51.2% women) met the screening criteria for the lifetime assessment of AUDs according to the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (SCID-I/P; First et al., 1995) and as a result completed an assessment of alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms. The average (SD) age of the sample was 36.6 (11.4) years, and 71% of participants met lifetime DSM-IV criteria for an AUD. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis of the tetrachoric correlation matrix of alcohol abuse and dependence criteria revealed that a single factor best accounted for the data in this sample. Results of Rasch model analyses indicated that the severity ordering of the DSM-IV abuse and dependence symptoms was not consistent with the hierarchical structure suggested by the DSM-IV. Instead, abuse items were found to be spread across a full range of the AUD continuum and were not consistently in the lower ranges of severity. CONCLUSIONS: This study extends the literature by examining a treatment-seeking psychiatricoutpatient sample and using a semistructured diagnostic interview administered by mental health professionals. Methodological considerations and implications for the conceptualization of AUD are discussed.
Authors: Renee D Goodwin; Christina W Hoven; John S Lyons; Murray B Stein Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2002-12 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: James MacKillop; Robert Miranda; Peter M Monti; Lara A Ray; James G Murphy; Damaris J Rohsenow; John E McGeary; Robert M Swift; Jennifer W Tidey; Chad J Gwaltney Journal: J Abnorm Psychol Date: 2010-02