Psychometric Evaluation of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) in a Psychiatric Sample

Abstract

The Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) is a 30-item screening instrument developed to identify children who are either living with or have lived with alcoholic parents. In a sample of 250 psychiatric patients, the CAST exhibited substantial item-total scale correlations and a high level of internal consistency reliability. Total CAST scores discriminated self-identified children of problem drinkers from control subjects and were significantly correlated with the severity of parental psychological and social complications due to alcohol misuse. Factor analysis indicated a unidimensional scale structure. CAST cut-off scores produced a low false positive and false negative rate. The psychometric properties of the CAST suggest that it is a useful screening instrument for identifying the offspring of problem drinkers and alcoholics.

Key Words:

• Children of alcoholics
• Screening test
• Psychometric evaluation
• Item analysis
• Factor analysis