The cast-6: development of a short-form of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test.

The 30-item Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) is shortened to a 6-item scale (CAST-6) using Principal Components Analysis of CAST responses for three distinct samples: outpatient substance abusers, outpatient psychiatric patients, and medical students. The face validity, internal consistency, and discriminatory ability of the CAST-6 are examined. The CAST-6 is judged to compare favorably with the full CAST and to provide a more efficient way to identify adult children of alcoholics.