The development and psychometric testing of a substance use wellness tool

Abstract

This paper describes the development and psychometric testing of the Substance Use Wellness Tool, created to help raise awareness about alcohol and other substance misuse among university undergraduates. The tool is a self-and peer-reflection guide that students can use to monitor and alter their patterns of substance use. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the tool was unidimensional and that all 13 assessed domains were important. Cronbach’s alpha indicated the tool was highly reliable. Construct (convergent) validity for alcohol use with the 10-item AUDIT was also good, with strong correlations overall and within subgroups defined by gender, year of study, and university site.