Estudio psicométrico del instrumento CARLOS (CRAFFT) en estudiantes universitarios mexicanos

Abstract

In  Mexico  there  are  instruments  with  adequate psychometric  properties  evaluating  alcohol  consumption,  as  well  as  several aspects of its use and risk perception (refer to Calleja, 2011). However, so far, a  scale  measuring  both  alcohol  consumption  and  other  psychoactive substances in a brief and precise way has not been validated in Mexico. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the CARLOS (CRAFFT) instrument by Knight, Sherrit, Shrier, Harris and Chang (2002) in a sample of 220  Mexican  university  students.  The  instruments  CARLOS  (CRAFFT)  and AUDIT  were  applied  to  Mexican  university  students.  The  self-administered test  technique  was  used  and  the  instruments  were  applied  inside  the classroom.  A  1  was  assigned  to  an  affirmative  answer  and  0  for  a  negative answer.  The  average  age  of  the  participants  was  20  years  (range,  18  to  25 years).  The  CARLOS  (CRAFFT)  instrument  showed  moderately  high  internal consistency  levels  (Cronbach’s  alpha  =  .73).  The  cutoff  point  of  2  offers  the best  combination  of  sensibility  (.86)  and  specificity  (.73)  with  a  positive predictive  value  (.52)  and  a  negative  predictive  value  (.93).  The  area  under the  ROC  curve  was  .79  and  Pearson’s  r  correlation  between  the  CARLOS (CRAFFT)  and  the  AUDIT  instrument  was  .67  (p  <  0.01).  The  CARLOS (CRAFFT) instrument is sufficiently valid and reliable for testing psychoactive substances consumption in Mexican university students.