Validation of the AUDIT scale and factors associated with alcohol use disorder in adolescents: results of a national Lebanese study
Abstract Background This study objective was to evaluate the prevalence as well as factors (smoking, internet addiction, social phobia, depression, child abuse and bullying) associated with alcohol use disorder among a representative sample of Lebanese young people, in addition to validating and confirming psychometric properties of the AUDIT scale. Methods A cross-sectional study, conducted between January and May 2019, enrolled 1810 adolescents aged between 14 and 17. Alcohol dependence was defined as a high AUDIT score. A principal component analysis technique to confirm the validity of the construct of the AUDIT scale score was done and a confirmatory analysis to assess the structure of the instrument was conducted. Results The mean AUDIT score was 6.46 ± 8.44 and high risk of hazardous alcohol drinking was found in 28% of adolescents. One factor solution of the AUDIT scale had been found after running the factor analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the χ2/df=2.4, the Steiger-Lind RMSEA was 0.10 [0.084-0.155] and the Joreskog GFI equaled 0.91 and AGFI equaled 0.92. Higher cigarette (Beta=0.372) and waterpipe (Beta=0.319) dependence, higher child sexual (Beta=0.581) and neglect (Beta=0.106) abuse, higher internet addiction (Beta=0.088), separated parents compared to living together (Beta=3.202) and higher bullying victimization (Beta=0.143) were significantly associated with higher AUDIT scores. Conclusion Alcohol dependence seems to be influenced by several risk factors among the Lebanese adolescents such as cigarette and waterpipe dependence, higher internet addiction, bullying, and child sexual and neglect abuse. Parents and healthcare professionals could use this data to influence intervention efforts.