Objective psychological measurement and alcoholism: survey of the literature 1973

Associations among alcoholism, drug abuse, and antisocial personality: a review of literature

Current practice through both diagnostic systems and clinical approaches tends to view alcoholism, drug abuse, and antisocial personality as completely distinct systems. In the course of research with other goals, the authors noted the apparent associations of each pair within this triad. As prior reviews of the literature on associations among these did not deal with implications of frequent association, this literature was re-evaluated with a more comprehensive assessment of the studies and reports bearing on these associations. After a broad search, studies were examined that reponed statistics indicating an association or none between one or more of the pairs of the triad. About 75% to 80% of the studies meeting the criteria showed positive associations between pairs. Also, a common etiological matrix may predispose one to behaviors diagnostic of each aspect of the triad: alcoholism, drug abuse, and antisocial personality. Although many studies contained methodological difficulties, the review suggests where diagnosis of one aspect is made, the other two should be suspected and the patient so evaluated.

Correlates of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) among DWI offenders

Examined the relationship between scores on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Psychological Screening Inventory (PSI) and Locus of Control Scale (LOC) in a selected sample of 156 apprehended drunken drivers. About 90% were identified as problem drinkers on the MAST, and 15% were screened by the PSI as requiring more intensive psychological assessment. Scores on the MAST were independent of LOC, but positively related to results on PSI scales that assess antisocial acting-out and neurotic anxiety and also to general maladjustment (mean scale elevation). A weighted composite of three PSI scales was related significantly to MAST scores, but explained only a modest proportion of variance in them. The MAST and PSI can be used to supplement one another in screening DWI offenders.

Evaluation of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in assessing lifetime and recent problems

Investigated the reliability, validity and dimensionality of scores obtained by acute psychiatric inpatients (N = 120) on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test adapted to assess lifetime and current symptomatology. Under most conditions, test scores and classifications were reasonably consistent over brief intervals and the underlying structure of test content was unidimensional. The test showed high sensitivity (88%), insufficient specificity (50%), and modest classification accuracy overall (58%) and thus underscored the problem of excessive false positives and/or an inadequate diagnosis as criterion.

Factor structure of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) in a psychiatric outpatient population

Investigated a factor analysis of the responses of psychiatric outpatients (N = 240) to the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. An orthogonal four-factor solution resolved to a single broad factor that encompassed all test items when differences in item difficulty were controlled and the initial factors were rotated obliquely.

Objective psychological measurement and alcoholism: survey of the literature 1974

This survey is the third in a series examining objective psychological test data or behavioral measurements on alcoholics published in the United States during a specific year. The 131 articles published in 1974 are divided into two broad categories, treatment orientation and behavior and attitudes of alcoholics. Findings are further divided into subcategories, briefly described, and cross indexed. The resume and conclusion section includes references to current findings.

An exploratory study of state-trait anxiety as a function of automated relaxation training, desired changes and drinking behavior

Fifty-two VA domiciliary residents were given four sessions of tape-recorded relaxation training in small groups. The State-Trait Anxiety Scale was administered before the first and last training sessions. The experimental group's mean state anxiety decreased from Test I to Test II, but a control group's mean increased (p less than .025). Both groups decreased in trait anxiety over time (p less than .001). A significant effect within the experimental group was that 9 residents with disciplinary problems due to intoxication during the training period increased in mean state anxiety, while the remainder of the group decreased. Experimental Ss who initially desired many trait changes decreased mean trait anxiety more from Test I to Test II than did the rest of the experimental group (p less than .025).