Alcohol consumption and presenting problems in an out-patient mental health clinic.

Alcohol use has been shown to co-occur with a range of psychiatric disorders and psycho-social problems in both clinical and general population studies. The current survey of 683 out-patient mental health clients examined the relationship of self-reported alcohol use (as measured by the Quantity-Frequency index and the Retrospective Diary) with self-ratings of common mental health concerns. The South Shore Problem Inventory was developed as a brief self-report instrument to be used for routine assessment and research. The inventory yielded three factors after principal components analysis and Varimax rotation: affective/physiological signs and symptoms (Factor 1), interpersonal/family problems (Factor 2), and vocational/legal difficulties (including a self-rating of substance abuse) (Factor 3). MANOVA revealed that heavy drinking predicted significantly higher problem scores for all three factors. The SSPI showed good initial reliability and utility, and the three sub-scales were theoretically congruent with a social learning model of assessment. The use of similar problem scales and substance abuse indices can be used with a wider variety of both mental health and substance abuse treatment populations to provide routine self-report data for clinical and research applications.