Psychometric properties of a quitting time for alcohol questionnaire: Factor structure, reliability, and validity

Research into the dynamics of alcohol use has traditionally focused on etio logical factors, particularly on the reasons an individual engages in drink ing behaviours. Although reasons for the permanent cessation of drinking ha ve also been well documented, little is known about the reasons for the epi sodic cessation of alcohol use that is characteristic of non-problematic dr inking patterns. The purpose of the present study was to develop and valida te a questionnaire designed to monitor the reasons an individual temporaril y stops drinking at the end of a drinking episode. A 23-item Quitting Time for Alcohol Questionnaire (QTAQ) was developed and distributed to a communi ty based sample of 252 participants. Factor analysis revealed three concept ually distinct factors, QTAQ-IS (Internal Status) QTAQ-AA (Avoidance Adhere nce) and QTAQ-IC (Immediate Context), which accounted for 36.3% of the vari ance. Cross-validation on a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 479 ) confirmed the three-factor solution (accounting for 33% of the variance). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the factors ranged from .74 to .81 for t he community sample and from .62 to .78 for the student sample. The validit y of the emergent factors was demonstrated by their ability to classify par ticipants according to self-reported alcohol consumption and alcohol depend ence criteria, and also by their significant predictive relationship with t hese criteria. The present findings suggest that the QTAQ is a useful instr ument both for research and for use in clinical practice. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.