Effects of Item Correction on Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test Scores in College Men With and Without a Family History of Alcoholism

Certain items on the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) fail to specify referent or provide drinking norms, which can confuse interpretation. College men N = 133 reporting no alcohol/drug problems were administered the MAST as a questionnaire and then interviewed to determine the basis for all alcoholism-positive answers. Correction of responses with interview data produced significant reductions in no. of alcoholism-positive responses and clinical scores. The uncorrected MAST yielded more alcoholism-positive responses and higher clinical scores in Ss with a family history of alcoholism (FHP) compared with those Ss without (FHN). Item correction, however, produced no significant difference between these Ss in number of alcoholism-positive responses, although FHPs continued to have higher clinical scores. These data have implications for drug abuse screening and prevention in college men.