Opportunities for alcohol and cannabis use among youth: psychometric properties of novel measures.

BACKGROUND

This study examined the psychometric properties of novel multi-item measures of exposure to opportunities for alcohol use, cannabis use, and simultaneous use (SAM) among youth.

METHODS

Surveys were administered to 1,082 15- to 20-year-olds in 40 California cities in 2023-24. The surveys included questions about how often respondents had an opportunity to engage in alcohol use, cannabis use, and SAM in different contexts/situations in the past year (e.g., at home), beliefs related to these substance use behaviors, and demographic characteristics. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and correlation and regression analyses were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the exposure to substance use opportunities measures.

RESULTS

The CFA indicated that survey items loaded on three primary factors (five items per factor) corresponding to opportunities for alcohol use, cannabis use, and SAM. Factor loadings ranged from 0.61 to 0.90, and the model fit was acceptable [NFI = 0.91; CFI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.043 (95% CI = 0.036, 0.049), and SRMRu = 0.085]. The internal reliabilities (ω) of the substance-specific latent variables ranged from 0.82 to 0.89. The three substance specific factors, in turn, loaded significantly on an overall opportunities factor (λs = 0.78 - 0.89). The internal reliability (ω) for the overall opportunities latent variable was 0.85. Correlation analyses indicated moderate to strong associations in the expected directions between the exposure to opportunities measures and normative beliefs, perceived availability and perceived harm of alcohol, cannabis, and simultaneous use and corresponding substance use behaviors. Regression analyses indicated significant unique associations between exposure to opportunities measures and substance use behaviors when controlling related beliefs and demographic characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides support for the validity and internal reliability of novel exposure to substance use opportunities measures. Measures for exposure to opportunities for alcohol and cannabis use and SAM will be useful for research on the etiology and prevention of the substance use behaviors and related problems among youth.