Development and Evaluation of the Lifestyle History Questionnaire (LHQ) for People Entering Treatment for Substance Addictions.

OBJECTIVE

We developed and investigated the psychometric properties of the Lifestyle History Questionnaire (LHQ), a self-report instrument designed to measure the extent of occupational dysfunction attributable to substance abuse.

METHOD: The instrument was developed using concepts in the ecological models of occupational therapy and in the work of William L. White, who defined addiction culture in terms of the patterns of life in context. We analyzed data from two field tests using both classical test theory and item response theory.

RESULTS

The final version of the instrument has 70 items, 1 unifying construct, and 8 subscales. We found it to be valid and reliable (α=.93) for measuring the extent of occupational dysfunction and specific areas of strengths and weaknesses.

CONCLUSION

The LHQ is a promising new instrument, the first of its kind to measure occupational dysfunction in context for people with substance addictions.