Psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ)

Perfectionism and alcohol-related problems: The role of procrastination

OBJECTIVE

College drinking is a significant individual and societal problem, and thus, identifying risk factors to alcohol-related problems has been an important line of inquiry. Adding to this rich literature, the current study examined whether perfectionism dimensions were associated with alcohol-related problems and whether a poor self-regulation process linked these associations.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 410 university students completed measures pertaining to perfectionism, procrastination, and negative consequences of alcohol use.

METHODS

Parallel mediation models were tested.

RESULTS

There was support for an indirect effect in the association between perfectionistic concerns and alcohol-related problems through susceptibility to temptation but not through pure procrastination or irrational procrastination. Perfectionistic strivings dimension was not associated with alcohol-related problems and this relation was not mediated by any procrastination dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS

Building internal resources to better resist immediately gratifying yet long-run detrimental behavioral habits is important, especially so for highly self-critical students.

Utility of the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire to Identify College Students At-Risk for Alcohol Related Problems: Relative Operating Characteristics across Seven Countries

Background: It is important to identify students who would benefit from early interventions to reduce harmful drinking patterns and associated consequences. the Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) could be particularly useful as a screening tool in university settings. Objectives. The present study examined the utility of the B-YAACQ to distinguish among students at-risk for problematic alcohol use as measured by the AUDIT. Objectives: The present study examined the utility of the B-YAACQ to distinguish among students at-risk for problematic alcohol use as measured by the AUDIT. Methods: A sample of 6382 students (mean age=20.28, SD=3.75, 72.2% females) from seven countries (i.e., U.S., Canada, South-Africa, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, England) completed the B-YAACQ, the AUDIT and different measures of alcohol use. Results: ROC analyses suggested that a cutoff score of 5 maximized the YAACQ's discrimination utility to differentiate between students at low versus moderate/high risk in the total sample and across countries (except in Canada, where the cutoff was 4). In addition, a cutoff of 7 differentiated between students at low/moderate versus high risk in the total sample, while cutoffs of 10, 9, 8 and 7 differentiate between students at low/moderate versus high risk in Uruguay, U.S and Spain (10), Argentina (9), England (8), and Canada and South-Africa (7), respectively. Students classified at the three risk levels (i.e., low, moderate and high) differed in age (i.e., a younger age was associated with higher risk) and drinking patters (i.e., higher drinking frequency, quantity, binge drinking and AUDIT and B-YAACQ scores in the higher risk groups). Conclusions: This study suggest that the B-YAACQ is a useful tool to identify college students at-risk for experiencing problematic patterns of alcohol use.

The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire: A cross-country examination among university students in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, and the United States

BACKGROUND

The Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (B-YAACQ) was designed to measure alcohol consequences and identify at-risk students. It was developed and originally validated among university students in the United States (U.S.), yet it is widely used in both the U.S. and abroad. Using the alignment method, we tested whether the B-YAACQ measures alcohol consequences similarly across university students in several countries where heavy alcohol use and related outcomes are prevalent.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 1473 university students (ages 18-30) from five university sites: Australia (n = 315), New Zealand (n = 270), Canada (n = 276), Argentina (n = 232), and the U.S. (n = 380). Participants completed a confidential, online alcohol use survey which included the B-YAACQ.

RESULTS

Overall, 12 of the 24 B-YAACQ items had invariant factor loading and threshold parameters, suggesting that these items exhibited similar reliability and difficulty among university students across the five countries. Of the 24 B-YAACQ items, 21 exhibited comparable reliability across the five countries; the remaining 3 items were slightly less reliable indicators of alcohol consequences among U.S. students. Thus, several items on the B-YAACQ may be particularly informative for identifying students who are experiencing high levels of drinking harm across multiple countries.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study is an important step toward (a) validating the B-YAACQ among university students in New Zealand and Canada, and (b) furthering our understanding of the psychometric properties of the B-YAACQ among university students in Australia, Argentina, and the U.S.