Reliability of Self-Report of Alcoholics

Abstract

Fifty male volunteer chronic alcoholic patients at a VA Medical Center were exposed to a 56-item assessment questionnaire as part of screening for a behavioral research and treatment program. The questionnaire included items in the following areas: family history, demographic information, drinking history, drinking rate and pattern, drinking antecedents and consequences, symptoms, occupational, psychological, and social adjustment. Test-retest reliability coefficients of 15 of the 56 items were above .70, indicating high reliability of both item content and verbal report of the alcoholic patients. Areas of item content were examined for reliability and survival rates. Items which did not survive were discarded or modified and new items added to construct a new 65-item questionnaire.