Confirmatory Factor Analyses of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) Among Adolescents Treated in Emergency Departments

Objective: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a 10-item instrument designed by the World Health Organization to assess problematic drinking. The objective of this study was to conduct confirmatory factor analysis of the AUDIT in a sample of adolescents and young adults who were treated in emergency departments.

Method: Adolescents and young adults (N= 103, 55 males), ranging in age from 12 to 20.9 years (mean [SD] age = 17.5 [2.1]), completed the AUDIT. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using LISREL 8.20 software to test the one-factor, two-factor and three-factor solutions for the AUDIT reported in the literature.

Results: Goodness-of-fit indices indicated that a correlated two-factor solution, consisting of a consumption factor and an alcohol-related-problems factor, provides the best fit to the data. The three-factor solution fits the data equally well, but Factor 2 (dependency) and Factor 3 (problems) correlate 1.00. The one-factor solution did not provide a good fit to the data.

Conclusions: Our findings support those of others who have reported that the AUDIT assesses a consumption factor and an alcohol-related problems factor among primary care patients at risk for problematic drinking behavior.