variables included age, gender, and severity of alcohol use. The researchers conducted multiple regression analyses to determine if the readiness-to-change scores were significant predictors of alcohol consumption, even when controlling for these other variables. The results showed that the readiness-to-change scores were indeed significant predictors of alcohol consumption at both the 6-month and 12-month follow-up sessions. Specifically, higher scores on the readiness measures were associated with lower alcohol consumption. These findings provide predictive evidence of validity for the three measures of readiness to change alcohol use in adolescents.
Overall, the study by Maisto and colleagues (2011) provides important evidence for the validity of three measures of readiness to change alcohol use in adolescents. The concurrent evidence of validity suggests that higher scores on these measures are associated with lower alcohol consumption at the same point in time. The predictive evidence of validity indicates that higher scores on the readiness measures can predict lower alcohol consumption at later points in time. These findings have implications for the design of clinical interventions for adolescent alcohol abuse, as they suggest that assessing readiness to change can be a useful tool in treatment planning.
