A Psychometric Evaluation of the Reasons for Limiting Heavy Drinking Scale in a National Sample of College Students
- Melville, A
- Haga, Morgan
- Mohn, Richard S.
- Jones, Ashley C. T.
- Madson, Michael B.
- Dvorak, Robert D.
- Ham, Lindsay S.
- Leffingwell, Thad R.
- Looby, Alison
- Lui, P. Priscilla
- Madson, Michael B.
- Meier, Ellen
- Montes, Kevin S.
- Napper, Lucy E.
- Prince, Mark A.
- Skewes, Monica C. [ Montana State University: Psychology ] [ Montana State University ]
- Zamboanga, Byron L.
Understanding college students' reasons for limiting heavy drinking can inform and enhance harm reduction initiatives. This study provided further psychometric evaluation of the Reasons for Limiting Heavy Drinking (RFLHD) scale, including model fit, construct validity, and test-retest reliability, among two national samples of college students across the United States. Study 1 consisted of 537 college students (Mage = 19.47, SD = 1.45) from 12 universities who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (61.8%) and female (65.4%). Study 2 consisted of 294 college students (Mage = 21.19, SD = 5.71) from seven universities who were predominantly White (54.4%) and female (74.8%). Participants completed measures of alcohol consumption, negative consequences, alcohol protective behavioral strategy use, and reasons for limiting heavy drinking. Confirmatory factor analysis, with slight modifications to the original model, produced an adequate fit for the sample. Test-retest reliability was poor when assessed twice over a 4-week period, and the evaluation of construct validity expanded on previously identified relationships between RFLHD and alcohol-related measures. The scale appears appropriate to use with college student samples as its results can be generalized. However, further psychometric properties of the measure should be evaluated longitudinally and with underrepresented samples to increase the utility of the scale and the universality of the current findings.