Development of an Assessment Tool for Drinking Motives and Problem Drinking in Female University Students

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to develop a tool that can identify drinking motives and measure the degree of problem drinking in female university students. METHODS: From June 25th, 2012 to September 21st, 2012, a methodological study was carried out on this subject. A basic questionnaire was made based on research literature and interviews with 8 female university students. The subjects who participated in the survey for factor analysis were 397 female university students from 2 universities in G Metropolitan City. RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using PASW and AMOS 18.0. The developed tool was found to be acceptable in terms of construct validity and modeling suitability. The questionnaire comprised 16 questions on drinking motives in 4 sub-categories including 'relief' (4 questions), 'friendship' (3 questions), 'consolation' (4 questions), and 'escape' (5 questions). Problem drinking consisted of 11 questions in 3 different sub-categories including 'loss of control,' 'health hazards,' and 'sexual hazards.' CONCLUSION: The questionnaire was proved to have reliability and validity. Finally, the researcher suggests that this questionnaire is adequate for assessing drinking motives and problem drinking of female university students.