J. Darkes et al., SENSATION SEEKING-DISINHIBITION AND ALCOHOL-USE - EXPLORING ISSUES OFCRITERION CONTAMINATION, Psychological assessment, 10(1), 1998, pp. 71-76
Disinhibition has been theorized to increase risk for alcohol abuse. B
ecause a major index of disinhibition, the Disinhibition subscale of t
he Sensation Seeking Scales (DIS; M. Zuckerman, 1979, 1987), includes
items that explicitly ask about alcohol use (see M. Zuckerman, 1994),
the nature and extent of predictor-criterion contamination merits inve
stigation. Using structural equation modeling, this study examined the
factor structure and predictive validity of the DIS with drinking in
1,217 college students. A 3-factor model best fit the DIS, and predict
ion of drinking by these factors varied based on their intrinsic level
s of alcohol relatedness. Hence, the relationship between alcohol abus
e risk and the DIS may require reconsideration. The factor structure o
f the DIS also varied between light and heavy drinkers; the clinical a
nd psychometric implications of this finding are discussed.