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Background/Aims: Only rather few data on the validity of screening questionnaires to detect problem drinking in adolescents exist. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), its short form AUDIT-C, the Substance Module of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT), and CRAFFT (acronym for car, relax, alone, forget, family, and friends). Methods: The questionnaires were filled in by 9th and 10th graders from two comprehensive schools. All students received an interview using the alcohol section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence according to DSM-IV as well as episodic heavy drinking served as criteria to validate the screening instruments. Results: All 9th and 10th graders (n = 225) of both schools participated. No significant differences were found for areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves ranging from 0.810 to 0.872. Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory (0.77–0.80) but poor for CRAFFT (0.64). Different cut-offs are discussed. Conclusions: Considering validity as well as reliability, AUDIT, AUDIT-C and POSIT performed well; however, the POSIT is quite lengthy. AUDIT-C showed good psychometric properties and has clear advantages because of its brevity.

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Objective: To analyze overweight and obesity in a nation by self-report (SR) data and by data about the target person provided via other household members compared to measurement devices (MD). The magnitude of hypothesized under-reporting by the SR data should be estimated with adjustment for age, gender, and education. Design: Two cross-sectional studies, nationally representative health examination surveys (response rates: 61.4 and 73.2%, respectively). Setting: Adult general population of Germany aged 20-79 years. Subjects: Sample 1 included 6806 residents. Samples 2 (n ¼ 98 673) and 3 (n ¼ 34 960) included residents in the second survey. Measurements: In sample 1 MD data were collected, in sample 2 SR data were collected, and in sample 3 body weight and height information was provided from another household member living together with the target person. Results: MD data revealed higher proportions of overweight and obesity compared to SR. Among women with body mass index (BMI) 35.00 or higher, the odds ratio (OR) was 3.9 (95% confidence interval, CI, 3.2-4.7), and among men 2.8 (CI, 2.2-3.6) for MD versus SR. Data from other household members also revealed higher proportions of overweight and obesity than SR (OR for BMI 35.00 or higher 2.1, CI, 1.7-2.5, for data from other household members versus SR in women and OR 1.3, CI, 1.1-1.5, in men).