Development and validation of the Personal Assessment of Responsible Drinking Identity (PARDI) with a college student sample.

Abstract

Recent research shows a link between identity and behavior change. Despite the existence of several measures that assess components of drinking identity, no measures examine the idiosyncrasies of a "Responsible Drinking Identity," though responsible drinking is an aim of many alcohol-related interventions. The present study created a measure of responsible drinking identity, the Personal Assessment of Responsible Drinking Identity (PARDI). Two cross-sectional designs and a prospective follow-up were used to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the PARDI. Study 1 used a U.S. national sample of college students who endorsed alcohol use (n = 911) to conduct an Exploratory Factor Analysis. Study 2 consisted of college students from a Southeastern University (n = 1,096) and was used to conduct a Confirmatory Factor Analysis, as well as evaluate convergent, discriminant, concurrent, and incremental validity. A subsample from Study 2 was then assessed after 1 month (n = 194). The follow-up examined test-retest reliability and predictive validity. The PARDI consists of four identity-based factors that are indicative of responsible drinking. The measure had adequate validity across all domains and good test-retest reliability. The measure appears to predict future protective behaviorial strategies (safe drinking behaviors), which mediates the relationship between the PARDI and both future alcohol use and consequences, suggesting safe or responsible drinking identity may drive a key behavioral target of substance use interventions. The PARDI may offer a tool to aid in quantifying underlying constructs of