THE ALCOHOL ABSTINENCE SELF-EFFICACY SCALE

This study describes the development and the initial psychometric prop erties of a 20-item, self-report measure to assess Bandura's construct of self-efficacy applied to alcohol abstinence. Efficacy expectations are theorized to mediate behavior change and moderate effort and effe ctive action. The sample was 174 male and 92 female subjects who came to an outpatient alcoholism treatment clinic. Abstinence efficacy was assessed with subject ratings on a 5-point Likert scale of confidence to abstain from alcohol across 20 different high-risk situations. A pa rallel set of items assessed subjects' temptation to drink in each sit uation. This Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy scale (AASE) demonstrate d a solid subscale structure and strong indices of reliability and val idity. The four 5-item subscales measured types of relapse precipitant s labeled negative affect, social positive, physical and other concern s, and withdrawal and urges. Both in structure and mean scores the AAS E demonstrated no substantive gender differences. The AASE represents a brief, easily usable and psychometrically sound measure of an indivi dual's self-efficacy to abstain from drinking.