Development and Validation of Decisional Balance and Processes of Change Inventories for Heavy, Episodic Drinking

The transtheoretical model of behavior change indicates that people who successfully change problem behaviors move through a series of stages of readiness to change. This model has been successfully applied to a wide range of health-related behaviors , but only limited work has been devoted to adapting this model to the cessation of heavy episodic drinking. The goals of the study were to develop measures of two of the key constructs of the model: a decisional balance inventory measuring the pros and cons of alcohol consumption and a processes of change instrument assessing techniques used to change heavy drinking behavior. Three hundred and eighty-two college students completed questionnaires containing these two instruments as well as measures of quantity and frequency of alcohol intake, demographic information, and problems associated with alcohol use. Measurement development was conducted on these two scales using a split-half cross validation procedure and following sequential methods . Results were quite satisfactory for the decisional balance inventory. One of the stopping criteria (MAP) suggested a three component solution, but two other stopping criteria (PA, Scree) suggested only one. The two factor solution was retained, due to empirical and theoretical evidence. Cronbach's coefficient alpha and SEM modification indices were then examined to reduce the item set. Confirmatory analysis using SEM to test alternative models for this reduced item set resulted in the acceptance of an uncorrelated two factor model and a 16item scale measuring the pros and cons of alcohol use. This scale demonstrated