Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test among Chilean university students: A validation study.

BACKGROUND: In Chile, concerns mount about escalating cannabis use. Thus, it is important to have tools for early identification of at-risk users. The Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT) is a useful screening tool, and the aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of its Spanish version among Chilean university students. METHODS: The CUPIT was translated into Spanish, pre-tested in a focus group (n=8), and then tested through an online survey (n=3798, 28% response rate). Of the 1061 respondents, 578 reported 12-month cannabis use. Internal reliability, internal structure, and concurrent validity (using the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test [CAST]) were obtained. Test-retest reliability was calculated (n=150) at 3-4 weeks (30% of attrition rate). Discriminative validity was evaluated comparing CUPIT subscales and four DSM-IV diagnostic groups. Receiving operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis assessed sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: Test-retest Pearson correlation between total CUPIT scores of 0.90 (p<0.001), and highly significant Kendall Tau-b coefficients for individual items (p<0.001) indicated excellent reliability. Concordance between the CUPIT and CAST (Pearson correlation 0.73, p<0.001) indicated good concurrent validity. ANOVA revealed significant differences in CUPIT scores between the four DSM-IV diagnostic groups (p<0.001), indicative of good discriminative validity. ROC analysis (gold standard: DSM-IV abuse/dependence) yielded an AUC value of 0.72, indicating acceptable discriminative capability. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish CUPIT is reliable, valid, and accepted by the university population studied, and, thus, a potentially useful tool for identifying both problematic and at-risk users.

The Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT): development, reliability, concurrent and predictive validity among adolescents and adults.

AIMS: To describe the empirical construction and initial validation of the Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT), a brief self-report screening instrument for detection of currently and potentially problematic cannabis use. DESIGN: In a three-phase prospective design an item pool of candidate questions was generated from a literature review and extensive expert consultation. The CUPIT internal structure, cross-sectional and longitudinal psychometric properties were then systematically tested among heterogeneous past-year users. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer participants were 212 high-risk adolescents (n = 138) and adults (n = 74) aged 13-61 years from multiple community settings. MEASUREMENTS: The comprehensive assessment battery included several established measures of cannabis-related pathology for CUPIT validation, with DSM-IV/ICD-10 diagnoses of cannabis use disorders as criterion standard. FINDINGS: Sixteen items loading highly on two subscales derived from principal components analysis exhibited good to excellent test-retest (0.89-0.99) and internal consistency reliability (0.92, 0.83), and highly significant ability to discriminate diagnostic subgroups along the severity continuum (non-problematic, risky, problematic use). Twelve months later, baseline CUPIT scores demonstrated highly significant longitudinal predictive utility for respondents' follow-up diagnostic group membership. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis identified a CUPIT score of 12 to be the optimal cut-point for maximizing sensitivity for both currently diagnosable cannabis use disorder and those at risk of meeting diagnostic criteria in the following 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: The CUPIT is a brief cannabis screener that is reliable, valid and acceptable for use across diverse community settings and consumers of all ages. The CUPIT has clear potential to assist with achievement of public health goals to reduce cannabis-related harms in the community.