Introduction: Excessive alcohol consumption is the most widespread toxic habit in the world, and a particular problem among young people for whom alcohol is part of their recreational habits. The start of university studies coincides with adulthood when alcohol becomes easily available and used as a tool to deal with new stressors. It has been…

Objective: To assess the use of alcohol screening tools across US colleges. Participants: Directors of health services at 333 four-year colleges. Methods: An online survey was conducted regarding the use of alcohol screening tools. Schools reporting use of formal tools were further described in terms of 4 tools (AUDIT, CUGE, CAPS, and RAPS) that…

Effective clinical faculty are essential for disseminating substance abuse screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT). The authors developed an 8-hour SBIRT training for internal medicine faculty preceptors. Trainers conducted SBIRT lectures and small-group communication practice sessions. The authors assessed participants'…

Gender of the alcohol-abusing parent was examined in relation to general and romantic attachment (as measured by the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised and the Relationship Scales Questionnaire) in female adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs; as indicated by the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) as compared to non-ACOAs. As compared to…

Assessed CAGE (first letters of keywords in series of 4 questions about drinking: cut down, annoyed, guilty, eye-opener), instrument in routine screening for alcohol problems among 687 patients of 2 primary care physicians. Results showed that CAGE instrument was useful screening device for identifying those with mild to moderate substance abuse…

To explore the relationship between alcohol problems and physical violence with partners and strangers, 457 college men and 958 college women with low, intermediate, or high scores on the Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test reported conflict tactics on the Conflict Tactics Scale in the past year to and by partners and strangers. More men than…

The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) was designed to serve as a reliable and quantifiable measure of alcohol dependence (M. Selzer, 1971). Since its introduction, the psychometric properties of the MAST have been studied extensively, but there are several questions that have not been addressed or only partially answered. The purpose of…

Item content of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) was modified to make it more appropriate for young persons. The resulting test was found to have lower internal consistency than the adult MAST, but the elimination of five items with comparatively poor psychometric properties yielded an acceptable alpha coefficient. (Contains 10…

Use of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), a new instrument for assessing chemical dependency, was tested on 376 college students. The SASSI showed significant promise in discriminating between nonabusers, moderate abusers, and severe abusers. The need for an instrument impervious to social desirability effects is discussed.…

The relationship between the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) and the subject's sex and income was significant. If male or poor, he was more likely to receive a higher score on MAST. There was no significant correlation with age, marital status, education, or duration of residency. (Author/BEF)

Suggests a strategy for researchers and caregivers to use in asking children about their parents' drinking. Use of the CAF survey item (children from alcoholic family) in the CASPAR (Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism Rehabilitation) Project is described, and reliability and validity data presented. (JAC)

Examined the ability of CAGE, an established screening test for alcoholism, to identify accurately problem drinkers among college students (N=582). Found that the CAGE did not perform well enough to serve as a screening tool for problem drinking within the college student population. (Author/ABL)

The aim of this study was to develop tools for screening and assessment of socio-medical effects of alcohol use which are simple and inexpensive enough to be used in any primary health care setting. A test protocol was prepared by a group of investigators from Australia, Bulgaria, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, and the United States. Based on a number of…

This study evaluated the usefulness of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in the medical assessment of college students. The MAST was administered randomly to 200 students at a student health center and was found to be useful as part of individual health assessments. (Author/MT)

The CAGE instrument is a 4-item questionnaire used for routine and rapid screening of alcohol problems. The term "CAGE" is an acronym with each letter representing one of the four items that comprise the instrument. A positive endorsement of two or more items is considered to be the threshold score, indicating the possibility of a…