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Examining Drinking Consequences and Reasons for Drinking in a Bilingual College Sample

University of Texas, El Paso

Arthur W. Blume

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Osvaldo F. Morera

University of Texas, El Paso

Solanja Perez

University of Texas, El Paso

College drinking behavior is a national public health concern. However, little research has been conducted to test the psychometric validity and reliability of alcohol use measures among Spanish-speaking Hispanic college students. Adopting a translation-back-translation approach, the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) was translated into Spanish and the Razones del Consumo de Alcohol (RCA), a newly created measure of one’s reasons for drinking, was developed in Spanish. Both measures were administered to 155 Spanish-speaking students at a university in the Southwestern United States. All translated measures demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability. Support for the construct validity of the translated RAPI measure was demonstrated as gender and RCA scores were predictive of RAPI scores in their expected directions [R² = .438, F(2, 138) = 53.36, p = .000]. Acculturation was not significantly associated with RAPI scores nor did acculturation interact with RCA scores to enhance the predictability of RAPI scores. Finally, an exploratory factor analysis was performed on the RCA revealing a one-factor solution as the most adequate description of the RCA data. Knowledge of reasons for drinking as assessed by the RCA seems useful in predicting drinking-related consequences among Hispanic college students.

Key Words: reasons for drinking • Hispanics • acculturation • consequences of drinking

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