No abstract

The current research tested the predictive validity of 6 of the 7 Composite Scores (CSs) of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in 310 methadone maintenance patients assessed at treatment entry using the ASI and other measures, and followed for 2 years. Logistic regression was used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the CSs at intake in predicting their respective validity criterion measures at follow up. Except for the Medical CS, each of the other 5 CS measures significantly predicted its validity criterion measure. The CSs measuring drug use, alcohol abuse, psychopathology, and legal problems had high specificity (88% [corrected] for the Drug CS, 91% for the Alcohol CS, 96% for the Legal CS, and 100% for the Psychological CS). The CSs measuring employment problems had high sensitivity (76%). The results support the predictive validity of most of the ASI CSs as measures of specific problems as well as the validity of the multidimensional construct on which the ASI is based.

Analyses were performed to construct and confirm the validity of new conjoint intake and 6-month follow-up scales for the Addiction Severity Index (A. T. McLellan, L. Luborsky, G. E. Woody, & C. P. O'Brien, 1980) applied to a diverse sample of substance dependence patients (N -1,008). A multistage scaling strategy identified 5 psychometrically integral addiction problem scales. Exploratory item and factor analyses, confirmatory oblique item clustering, and variance partitioning verified that the scales comprised relatively little common variance and that each retained a substantial amount of unique and reliable variance. Resulting scales (Psychiatric, Drug, Alcohol, Family, and Legal Problems, respectively) were highly internally consistent and structurally stable overall, at intake and follow-up and across gender, age, ethnicity, and substance abuse categories. Concurrent and predictive validity over 2 years were supported for clinical subsamples based on comorbid psychopathology and mood, HIV risk behaviors, personality indices, urine toxicology, and criminal records.The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is remarkably useful multidimensional clinical and probably the most commonly used instrument in evaluation tool (Cacciola et al., 1997; Stoffelthe field of substance abuse and has been a mayr, Mavis, & Kasim, 1994). At the same time, research in the past decade has begun to demonstrate some limitations in the two sets of

The 2-year test-retest reliability of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was examined in 200 men and 25 women methadone patients. Stability of the PCL-R was generally good whether it was evaluated as a dichotomous or dimensional measure. Utilizing a diagnostic cutoff score of 25 or more the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were.48 for men and.67 for women. For the Total PCL-R score ICCs were.60 and.65 for men and women, respectively. Factor 1 was more reliably measured in women compared to men (.63 vs.43). For men, Factor 1 was significantly less reliable than Factor 2 or the Total score. For women, Factor 2 was significantly less reliable than the Total PCL-R score or Factor 1.