Faculty Collaboration Database

Using the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test to study social drinkers: Tecumseh, Michigan. J Stud Alcohol 1988 Nov;49(6):522-31

Date

11/01/1988

Pubmed ID

3236884

DOI

10.15288/jsa.1988.49.522

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0024263417 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   32 Citations

Abstract

The Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (SMAST), often given to clinical samples to detect alcoholics, was used in a survey of a randomly selected sample (N = 1,266) in a small midwestern town, with a population of about 10,000. The specific aims were: (1) to test if scores on the SMAST would be related to these normal subject's levels of drinking; (2) to test if the SMAST could identify a drinking group who had never sought treatment for alcohol-related problems, thus defining a potential subset for help; and (3) to appraise the SMAST as a research tool for use in a general population. Results show that the number of SMAST items endorsed is significantly but modestly correlated to drinking levels, with higher volume drinkers having higher scores. This prediction was improved by removing two items reporting "not normal" drinking that had caused SMAST scores to be spuriously high. Factor analysis of test items allowed construction of five rank-ordered groups: those (1) reporting no alcohol-related SMAST problems; (2) described by two items, self-reported "not normal" drinking; (3) with one problem: "can't stop" drinking; (4) reporting problems but had not received treatment for them (the predicted group); and (5) reporting both problems and attempts at help with them (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous). These latter two groups had significantly higher scores on several other measures of alcohol-related behavior, as well as tests measuring emotional adjustment, notably Eysenck's Neuroticism Scale and Buss and Plomin's measure of Impulsivity. The SMAST demonstrates potential usefulness in selecting problem, no-problem and patterns of use in drinkers from a normal drinking population when clusters of items are constructed to be exclusive in a Guttman-like rank order, rather than by sheer number of items endorsed or use of simple factor scores.

Author List

Harburg E, Gunn R, Gleiberman L, Roeper P, DiFranceisco W, Caplan R

Author

Wayne J. DiFranceisco Research Scientist II in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Alcohol Drinking
Alcoholism
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Michigan
Middle Aged
Psychological Tests
Psychometrics
Social Adjustment