NCJ Number
207808
Journal
Addiction Volume: 99 Issue: 2 Dated: November 2004 Pages: 120-128
Editor(s)
Cherry Lowman
Date Published
November 2004
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Utilizing adolescents admitted to a residential treatment program in the United States, this study examined the comparability, reliability, and predictive validity of two instruments used to assess alcohol use and dependence: the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) and the Form 90 Timeline Followback (TLFB) method.
Abstract
The two most commonly used measures of alcohol and cannabis use in adolescent treatment studies are the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN) and variations of the Timeline Followback (TLFB) method, such as Form 90. This study compared estimates of the alcohol and marijuana use measures derived from the GAIN and Form 90 TLFB, attempted to determine if there was a cut-off point at which self-reports of very high amounts of alcohol or cannabis consumed appeared to become unreliable, and examined whether the GAIN and Form 90 measures of alcohol and cannabis use had similar correlations with other measures expected to co-vary with measures of use. The study was based on a sample of 101 adolescents in a residential treatment program in the Midwestern United States. Study results found that there was excellent comparability between the GAIN and Form 90 measures of days of alcohol use, peak number of drinks and peak blood alcohol content (BAC). It also found that reliability deteriorated after reported peak BAC levels exceeded 0.50 and peak joints exceeded 19. Lastly, the study found similar and strong relationships between alcohol and cannabis use measures and the number of abuse/dependence symptoms across measures and instruments. Study limitations and implications are presented and discussed. Tables, references