Treatment may influence self-report and jeopardize our understanding of outcome

Objective:Standardized measures of self-reported alcohol use are the predominant method by which change in alcohol use following interventions is evaluated. This study examined whether the invariance of the test–retest pretreatment Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was affected by the treatment experience. In this study, the intervening exposure was to motivational interviewing (MI) versus community service (CS), the treatment-as-usual control group.Method:Analyses were conducted on a subsample of court-referred 16- to 21-year-olds recruited into a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of MI on alcohol use and police charges for risky driving and/or drinking. Youths were randomized to CS or MI. A subsample of 478 participants, who at baseline completed the AUDIT in reference to alcohol use for the 6 months before their conviction, later repeated the AUDIT at treatment completion, in reference to the same 6-month baseline period.Results:At completion of treatment, participants r...