COMPOSITE OUTCOME MEASURES IN ALCOHOLISM-TREATMENT RESEARCH - PROBLEMS AND POTENTIALITIES

Alcoholism treatment researchers have increasingly incorporated multip le measures representing multiple dimensions in assessing treatment ou tcomes. However, no satisfactory model exists for examining the dynami c interrelationships of multiple measures in determining clinically me aningful and interpretable outcomes. One approach to analyzing multipl e outcomes is to combine them into a composite measure. In their most elementary form, composite measures combine alcohol consumption and co nsumption-related Problems dimensions into treatment outcome classific ations. This paper discusses conceptual and methodological issues in s tudies reporting composite outcomes and provides a model and recommend ations for using composite measures in alcohol treatment research.