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Abstract
Objective: Marijuana use prevalence, culturally confusing messages about marijuana risks, assessment dilemmas, and current screening inadequacies justify developing a marijuana specific screening inventory for assessment purposes. This article describes the Marijuana Screening Inventory (MSI‐X) and its preliminary psychometric reliability, factor analyses, and factor structure. Method: The MSI‐X was administered to a community sample of 420 Army reservists participating in substance abuse educational classes. Participants responded anonymously to the 39‐item MSI‐X. SPSS analyses were performed with 408 returned MSI‐Xs from a sample of 49% males and 40% females. Results: Analyses revealed 61% smoked marijuana during their lifetime. Reliability of the MSI‐X was. 89. Exploratory factor analyses of 31 scored items by principal components and varimax rotation supported a nine‐factor structure, explaining 65.8% of the variance, with all items loading ≥ .30. Within the sample, 7.84% scored ≥ 7 suggesting “at risk” with marijuana; 6.12% scored 4 to 6 “suggestive of risk”; 20.83% scored 1 to 3 reflecting “normal or experimental” use; and 65.4% scored 0 suggesting “no problem.” Conclusions: The reliability, variance explained, factor‐loading matrix of the nine‐factor MSI‐X structure and clinically predetermined scoring ranges appear useful for screening marijuana use patterns. Factor‐based subscales were derived from the factor‐loading matrix and described as a base for future confirmatory factor analysis. Although the MSI‐X version needs psychometric strengthening, it shows potential as a marijuana‐specific screening inventory for use in general mental health and primary care settings.
