Personality Assessment Inventory substance-use scales: Convergent and discriminant relations with the Addiction Severity Index in a residential chemical dependence treatment setting

This study examined the convergent and discriminant validity of the Alcohol Problems (ALC) and Drug Problems (DRG) scales of the Personality Assessmen t Inventory (PN; Morey, 1991). Participants were 103 male veterans (mean ag e = 41.7 years) in a Veterans A Affairs residential treatment for chemical dependence. The PAI was compared to the Addiction Severity Index (ASI; McLe llan et al., 1992), a semistructured interview. The sampling strategy that was used resulted in a diverse sample (66% African American, 33% Caucasian; 59% with primary alcohol diagnosis, 38% with primary drug diagnosis, 56% w ith comorbid alcohol and drug diagnoses) and adequately variable ALC and DR G scores. Results supported the convergent validity of both the ALC and DRG scales in relation to both the ASI and substance-use diagnosis. The ALC sc ale also demonstrated excellent discriminant validity, whereas the discrimi nant validity of the DRG scale was less impressive. Despite this, the DRG s cale performed better in the current diverse sample than observed in an ear lier study (Alterman et al., 1995). Recommendations for the use of the PAI in chemical dependence treatment settings are discussed.