Replication of psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Important People Drug and Alcohol Interview

  • Mandy D. Owens University of New Mexico
  • William H. Zywiak Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.217
Keywords: social support, alcohol and drug use, probationers, criminal justice system, measurement

Abstract

Owens, M., & Zywiak, W. (2016). Replication of psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Important People Drug and Alcohol Interview. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5(2), 57-64. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.217

Aims: Social support is a predictor of alcohol and drug use. The Important People Drug and Alcohol (IPDA) interview and its predecessor, the Important People and Activities (IPA) measure, have been used to demonstrate this predictive relationship. The purpose of this study was to replicate the findings from Zywiak et al. (2009) in a sample of probationers with substance use disorders.


Design: Analyses mirrored those done previously to replicate the associations between social networks and substance use. The IPDA was used to assess social networks before and after incarceration. Form-90 (Tonigan, Miller, & Brown, 1997) was used to measure substance use.


Participants: Individuals were recruited from a local probation office. Information was collected from a sample of 50 male probationers with substance use disorders recently released from jail.


Conclusions: Results showed that many of the previous findings from Zywiak et al. (2009) were similar to those found in the current study. This adds to the evidence that the IPDA is a promising measure of social networks and examining how those networks relate to substance use outcomes. The use of the IPDA may be beneficial for both research and clinical purposes, while evaluating individuals with alcohol and other drug use disorders.

Author Biographies

Mandy D. Owens, University of New Mexico
Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
William H. Zywiak, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Decision Sciences Institute, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Pawtucket, RI and Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior,
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI

Published
2016-07-15
How to Cite
Owens, M. D., & Zywiak, W. H. (2016). Replication of psychometric properties and predictive validity of the Important People Drug and Alcohol Interview. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 5(2), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.217
Issue
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2016)
Section
Papers

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