Psychometric evaluation of the Reward Probability Index in emerging adult drinkers.

Abstract

Objective: Diminished access to environmental rewards is an established risk factor for addiction and a focus of many effective treatment approaches. Nevertheless, there is inconsistency in measurement approaches and a need for a psychometrically sound measure. The Reward Probability Index (RPI; Carvalho, Behavior Therapy, 42, 2011, pp. 249–262) is a 20-item self-report rating scale that measures access to and ability to experience psychosocial reward. Method: The current studies sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of the RPI in 2 samples of emerging adult heavy drinkers. Results: In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 393 college student drinkers supported a 2-factor model of the RPI (Reward Probability and Environmental Suppressors) after removal of redundant items, and corresponding subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis with 602 emerging adult drinkers recruited from the community supported the 2-factor model as best fitting after removal of one poor indicator, although absolute fit was only adequate. This 2-factor model demonstrated configural, metric, and scalar invariance across non-college and college subgroups as well as Black and White subgroups. Study 2 also demonstrated that the revised RPI subscales showed significant associations with measures of substance-free activity participation and enjoyment, anhedonia, and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the study revealed the RPI Environmental Suppressors subscale predicted alcohol-related problems (β = .25, p < .001) beyond demographic covariates, weekly drinking, and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: These studies provide evidence for the validity of the RPI as an efficient measure of access to reward among emerging adult heavy drinkers.

The associations between posttraumatic stress disorder and delay discounting, future orientation, and reward availability: A behavioral economic model

“…Both subscales are scored such that higher scores indicate higher levels of reward obtained. Psychometric evaluations of the RPI have been conducted with emerging adult samples and have demonstrated evidence of reliability for both subscales as well as convergent validity with measures of activity and avoidance, environmental reward, and depression (Carvalho et al., 2011; Voss et al., 2021). In the present sample, Cronbach's alpha values for the Reward Probability and Environmental Suppressors subscales were .78 and .68, respectively.…”

Risk Pathways Contributing to the Alcohol Harm Paradox: Socioeconomic Deprivation Confers Susceptibility to Alcohol Dependence via Greater Exposure to Aversive Experience, Internalizing Symptoms and Drinking to Cope

“…Aversive experience was assessed with the Reward Probability Index (RPI; Carvalho et al, 2011 ), which comprises of 20 items divided into two subscales. The 9-item Environmental Suppressors subscale (hereafter “aversive experience”) measures aversive experiences (α = 0.82), with the strongest loaded items in the cited factor analysis being “I have had many unpleasant experiences” and “It seems like bad things always happen to me.” The Reward Probability subscale (hereafter “reward probability”) measures the ability to obtain/experience reward (α = 0.82), with the strongest loaded items being “I have the abilities to obtain pleasure in life” and “I feel a strong sense of achievement.” Participants endorsed each item on a scale ranging from 1 “ Strongly disagree ” to 4 “ Strongly agree .” The validity of the Environmental Suppressors subscale measure of aversive experience for the current analytical purposes is supported by its unique association with adverse childhood experiences and with income and alcohol dependence (controlling for consumption) over the Reward Probability subscale ( Loomis, 2020 ; Voss et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Participants endorsed each item on a scale ranging from 1 "Strongly disagree" to 4 "Strongly agree." The validity of the Environmental Suppressors subscale measure of aversive experience for the current analytical purposes is supported by its unique association with adverse childhood experiences and with income and alcohol dependence (controlling for consumption) over the Reward Probability subscale (Loomis, 2020;Voss et al, 2021).…”

Leveraging behavioral economics and reinforcement theory in treating heavy episodic drinking among college students

“…The results reported by Murphy et al using the 20‐item RPI and the consistency of results obtained with those reported previously in studies using the PES are very encouraging in terms of potential to reinvigorate this vital area of research. I know the cumbersome nature of the PES‐suppressed inclusion of that instrument in studies conducted in my research group, a trend that I plan to change based on the excellent work reported by Murphy and colleagues, work that includes ongoing psychometric improvements to the RPI in the study of substance use (Voss et al, 2021). Of course, the excellent seminal work of Carvalho et al (2011) in surmounting the limitations of the PES with development of the RPI warrants acknowledgment as well.…”