A Peer Support Scale for Adults Treated for Psychoactive Substance–Use Disorder: A Rasch Analysis

The literature suggests that peer support is protective of relapse for adults treated for substance-use disorder. However, to our knowledge there is no standard measure of peer support. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to use Rasch analysis to assess a 13-item peer support scale used in a group of adults treated for primary psychoactive substance-abuse disorder. The participants (n = 408) are adults who were discharged from an inpatient substance-abuse treatment program from five successive years, 2004-2009. Overall, it is acceptable to surmise that items 1-12 are part of the same dimension for the 13-item scale. Given the prominence of therapeutic communities as a mode of primary treatment and the importance of peer support, it is important to both the academic and treatment communities to have a standard way to measure peer support. The scale presented here can be useful for this purpose.