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The children of alcoholics screening test (CAST): Test‐retest reliability and concordance validity
Author(s) -
Charland Hélène,
Côté Gilles
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199811)54:7<995::aid-jclp13>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - concordance , psychology , test (biology) , clinical psychology , test validity , reliability (semiconductor) , validity , psychometrics , screening test , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , pediatrics , paleontology , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
The stability of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) has been called into question by several authors (Hart, 1989; Maxwell, 1985; Schinke, 1989; Stacey, 1985). In a bid to verify these reservations, 376 college students were each evaluated twice by means of the CAST. Results confirm the high reliability and validity of this instrument in identifying grown‐up children raised in homes with at least one alcoholic parent. Reliability was demonstrated by good internal consistency, high item–total scale correlations, and near perfect test‐retest agreement ( k = .83). Furthermore, concordance between high CAST scores and satisfaction of recognized criteria for alcohol dependence, as measured with the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM‐III‐R (SCID), attests to the CAST's external validity ( k = .78). Moreover, factor analysis shows the instrument to have a unidimensional structure. Finally, with a cutoff score of 6 or more, the CAST demonstrates excellent sensitivity and specificity. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 995–1003, 1998.