Citation

Mays D, Usdan S, Arriola KRJ, Weitzel JA, Bernhardt JM. Am. J. Drug Alcohol Abuse 2009; 35(2): 109-114.

Affiliation

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. dmmays@sph.emory.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00952990902825439

PMID

19322732

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few validated measures exist to capture the context and consequences of specific drinking events among college students. OBJECTIVES: This study sought to describe the development and validation of the Retrospective Alcohol Context Scale (RACS), a 30-day measure of drinking context among college students. Methods: A sample of 169 college students completed daily alcohol assessments for 30 days and completed the RACS at follow-up. RESULTS: The RACS captured fewer negative consequences than daily assessments; however, high agreement was observed on context variables. CONCLUSION: Results support the validity of the RACS as a measure of drinking context among college students. The RACS may be most useful when information about drinking needs to be collected under limited time and resources. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: Further research is needed to examine the RACS among more diverse, probability samples and over longer time periods.

Language: en