Validation of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) among Spanish adolescent population

One of the instruments for the screening of problematic alcohol consumption with more empirical evidence is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), however there is no study in Spain that reports its psychometric properties among adolescents. This has been the aim of this paper. A correlational method was used by administering an individual interview to a sample of 569 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (M= 14.71; SD= 1.79). A subscale for the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder of the Adolescent Diagnostic Interview (ADI) was included as well as the subscale of Substance use and abuse of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) and the CRAFFT Substance Abuse Screening Test. The AUDIT presents an adequate psychometric behavior when it is applied to adolescents, both in terms of internal consistency (α= 0.82), as well as sensitivity (86.4%) and specificity (89.8%), using “4” as cut-off point. Factorial analysis has confirmed two factors as the most satisfactory solution. Henceforth, the AUDIT may be used in Spain with adolescents with psychometric guarantees.