Item characteristics of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test

Items of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) were individually ev aluated regarding disproportional responding. The item with the lowest degr ee of endorsement (Item 18. related to liver problems) was found to have co rrespondingly low relationships with other MAST items and with the total sc ore. Weighted items concerned with drug-related arrests were found to detra ct from the otherwise relatively homogeneous MAST items. Traditional statis tical approaches for homogeneity suggest high level internal consistency wi th the deletion of the aforementioned items. A factor analytic test of homo geneity was confirmed. Recommendations are presented concerning modificatio n of the MAST scoring procedures. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.