Evaluation of Alcohol and Other Drug Use and the Influence of Social Desirability

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the evaluation of alcohol and other drug use by what has been called direct measures, that is, scales that include obvious or explicit items on consumption, indirect measures, composed of camouflaged or nonobvious items on consumption, and the social desirability construct. The following use and/or addiction scales were given to a sample of 506 university students of both sexes: the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Addiction Acknowledgment Scale (AAS), CAGE Alcohol Questionnaire, Addiction Potential Scale (APS), MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale-Revised (MAC-R), and a self-report on alcohol and other drug use designed for this study. The relationships between these scales and the social desirability construct, measured with the Edwards Social Desirability Scale (DS) and the Paulhus Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) were also explored. Although the results do not allow us to arrive at a conclusion as to which scales are the most valid for evaluating the use of alcohol and other drugs, the data do show adequate convergent validity. The correlations found among the use and social desirability scales employed were negative and statistically significant.

Sex Differences on the MMPI–2 Substance Abuse Scales in Psychiatric Inpatients

Sex differences on the MMPI–2 addiction scales (MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale–Revised, Addiction Acknowledgement Scale, Addiction Potential Scale) and their ability to distinguish between substance-abusing and nonabusing psychiatric inpatients were examined. Men obtained higher mean raw scores than women on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale–Revised and the Addiction Acknowledgement Scale, and substance abusers scored higher on all three scales. Even relatively low cutoff scores, however, on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale–Revised resulted in false negative rates of 37 to 39%. The results support the utility of the MMPI–2 substance abuse scales; however, lower cutoff scores should be used with women and within a psychiatric population.

Aggression, Alcohol Dependency, and Self-Consciousness among High School Students of Divorced and Nondivorced Parents

134 high school students from a small high school in north central Kansas completed the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale, Fenigstein, et al.'s Self-consciousness Scale, and Zaks' Aggression Scale. Analyses of variance showed significant differences between boys and girls but not among grades. On the aggression and alcohol measures boys scored higher than girls, but lower on public self-consciousness. Youth of divorced parents scored significantly higher than those of nondivorced parents on aggression, private self-consciousness, and general self-consciousness. Aggression scores were significantly and positively correlated with those on the alcohol and private self-consciousness scales. When students' alcoholism scores indicate problems with alcohol, their scores on aggression indicate greater aggression and their private self-consciousness scores indicate sensitivity toward events in their environment, then having concerns about inner self can inhibit the action required for change. MacAndrew scores correlated significantly and negatively with scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness. When MacAndrew scores indicated problems with alcohol, the students' scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness suggested confidence in social settings, being at ease interacting with people. The present study involved students from a single rural district so increased understanding will require more extensive research if strategies for prevention and intervention are to be developed and utilized.