![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)
Methods: To assess reliability and validity, we used three baseline surveys of high school students participating in a preventive intervention trial within the jurisdictional service area of the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. The fifteen-minute alcohol risk survey included 16 multi-item scales and one composite score measuring key proximal, primary and moderating variables. Forty-four percent of students indicated they were American Indian (AI; of which 82% were Cherokee), including 23% who reported being AI only (n =435) and 18% both AI and White (n =352). Forty-seven percent reported being White only (n =901).
Results: Scales were adequately reliable for the full sample and across race/ethnicity defined by AI, AI/White and White subgroups. Among the full sample, all scales had acceptable internal consistency, with minor variation across race/ethnicity. All scales had extensive to exemplary test-retest reliability, and showed minimal variation across race/ethnicity. The eight proximal and two primary outcome scales were each significantly associated with frequency of alcohol use during the past month in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal models, providing support for both criterion and predictive validity. For most scales, interpretation of strength of association and statistical significance did not differ between the racial/ethnic subgroups.
Conclusions: Results support the reliability and validity of scales of a brief questionnaire measuring risk and protective factors for alcohol use, among AI adolescents, primarily members of the Cherokee Nation.