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Children of alcoholics screening test: Internal consistency, factor structure, and relationship to measures of family environment
Author(s) -
Yeatman Frank R.,
Bogart Cathy J.,
Geer Fred A.,
Sirridge Stephen T.
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1002/1097-4679(199411)50:6<931::aid-jclp2270500618>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - internal consistency , psychology , consistency (knowledge bases) , test (biology) , clinical psychology , factor (programming language) , screening test , developmental psychology , psychometrics , medicine , mathematics , computer science , paleontology , biology , geometry , family medicine , programming language
The children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) and the Family Environment Scale were administered to 307 adults ( M age = 27.6 years, 81% female, 89% White). Internal reliability estimates of the CAST were high ( r =.98). Factor analysis of the CAST resulted in a four‐factor solution, which accounted for 67% of the variability‐Parental Problem Drinking, Personal Distress, Responsibility for Parental Drinking, and Alcoholic Mother. A canonical correlation between measures of family environment and the CAST factors showed that higher levels of conflict and lower levels of cohesion and expressiveness were stronger predictors of Personal Distress in the child than of Parental Drinking Behavior. The results suggest that distress in children of alcoholics may be more a function of an impaired family than of parental drinking behavior itself.